In May 2020 I received my M.S. in Environmental Science from California State University. Chico, where I was in Dr. Kristen Kaczynski's Applied Plant Ecology Lab. I am currently looking for opportunities to continue doing disturbance ecological research with an interest in forest and conservation ecology.

 

For my Master's project, in April 2018, I implemented a restoration pilot project on the dozer line (fire line) of a burn site located northeast of Chico, Ca. A vegetative trajectory survey was conducted Spring 2018 and Spring 2019, on the burn area, the adjacent disturbed dozer line (fire line), as well as unburned reference sites.

 

In the summer of 2018 I assisted my advisor on a project with the International Drought Experiment. This particular project is looking at drought tolerance of sage brush (Artemisia arbuscula & Artemisia cana) and is located in southeastern Oregon.

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Before starting my master's degree I spent several years working at residential outdoor science schools, in settings including Yosemite National Park and the coastal redwoods. I taught middle school aged children in topics such as Forest Ecology, Marine Ecology, Stream Ecology, Wildlife Ecology, Wilderness Ethics, and Team Building. Through my experience teaching outdoors I realized I was drawn to understanding the underlying processes that I was teaching to the students.

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While Fire Ecology is the main focus of my current research, I am also greatly interested in restoration, forest, and conservation ecology, ecosystem response, and climate change. Subjects that intrigue me include forest response to fire, mycorrhizal connections, habitat fragmentation, and the protection of wilderness. Mountain systems are my favorite, including the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, but I find joy in all forms of nature.

 

Also, prior to beginning my current program, I had the pleasure of volunteering at the Bodega Marine Laboratory under Dr. Daniel Swezey and Sara Boles, who is a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Davis. The project is a collaboration looking at the effects of ocean acidification, propagating red abalone, along with looking at genetic variation as it relates to the changing ocean environment. I also volunteered on a project which is part of the Terrestrial Biodiversity Climate Change Collaborative. For that project, I worked with Megaen Oldfather, doctoral candidate in Dr. Ackerly's Lab, at the University of California, Berkeley.

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For my undergraduate career, I attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, where I received a Bachelor's in Environmental Studies. There I was able to fully find my passion for the outdoors, love for hiking, and refreshment of crisp mountain air.

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