Abby McConnell is an Associate Scientist in the Center for Education, Engagement and Evaluation (CEEE) at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. A social scientist by training, Abby employs research and evaluation methods to understand programmatic impacts and help programs better meet the needs of those who engage with them. Abby works to incorporate culturally responsive and trauma-informed evaluation methods and enjoys finding ways to increase collaboration and community involvement in evaluation work.
Abby has worked on formative and summative program evaluation for the Capacity Building Center for Tribes, supported the creation of community data reports with the Wildfire Research Center (WiRe), and explored challenges and actionable supports to address a gender imbalance of forest carbon monitoring professionals worldwide with Silvacarbon, a capacity building component of the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI), a flagship of the Group on Earth Observations, (GEO).
Within CEEE, Abby provides program evaluation for the Environmental Data Science Innovation & Inclusion Lab (ESIIL) as well as assorted Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs.
