Sam Ahler

My name is Sam Ahler, I use they/them pronouns right now, and I was born in what is now Wisconsin—the traditional territories of the Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Potawatomi, Dakota, and Ojibwe Nations. I am of English and German descent and my family immigrated to North America in the 1720s. I have Bachelor’s Degrees from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies, with a minor in LGBTQ+ Studies. I worked in oak savannas, tallgrass prairies with Dr. Ellen Damschen.

As a PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Colorado – Boulder, I work with Katharine Suding and Nancy Shackelford in the mixed grass prairies along the Front Range of Colorado. I now live and work in the traditional territories of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ute, Apache, Comanche, Kiowa, Lakota, Pueblo and Shoshone Nations. In collaboration with the Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield Farms, I study the impact of small-scale environmental conditions on grass establishment, growth, and survival. In addition, I study vegetative—or clonal—methods of reproduction in grasses to better understand individual and population persistence and the mechanisms linking population-level dynamics to ecosystem-level processes.

https://samahler.com/

John Albers

John Albers, part of the Atmosphere-Ocean Processes team at the NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory

John is a member of the Atmosphere-Ocean Processes team in the Physical Science Division at NOAA-ESRL. His research interests span a broad range of topics within the field of large-scale atmospheric dynamics including: stratosphere-troposphere coupling, subseasonal-to-seasonal climate prediction, and extratropical-tropical interactions. In addition, he also explores the effects of stratospheric trace constituents on tropospheric air quality, and the couplings between radiation, chemistry, and large-scale waves in the middle atmosphere.

• Austin Ortiz ( RECCS cohort 2019 )
• James Butts ( RECCS cohort 2018 )
• Xavier Cotton ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Lynne Albert

I am an enthusiastic Molecular microbiologist with 13+ years of industrial & laboratory research experience. I am currently focused on using my extensive background to teach Microbiology, Genetics and Astrobiology at Red Rocks Community College. This role allows me to continue to broaden my scientific knowledge and share that understanding with students.

• Adeena Chughtai ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Kurt Anderson

My interests span a wide variety of topics at the intersection of theoretical, empirical, and applied ecology, and I have explored these interests in both aquatic and terrestrial systems. I am particularly interested in how populations and communities respond to environmental variation, both natural and human driven, and I use a mixture of mathematical and empirical approaches to understand processes that act across scales. We lab group has recently started exploring responses of freshwater communities to environmental gradients in the Niwot LTER.

• Brian Hertvik ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Suzanne Anderson

Research Interests: Field-based mechanistic understanding of the chemical and physical processes that shape the Earth's surface and control chemical denudation rates. Recent projects have examined landsliding in the 2013 Colorado storm, catchment-scale hydrology and hydrochemistry, and analysis of weathered rock profiles. Specializes in collection of detailed field observations to constrain models of geomorphic systems.

• Sean Ross ( RECCS cohort 2016 )
• David Schellhase ( RECCS cohort 2014 )
• Jorgie Marquez ( RECCS cohort 2014 )

Bob Anderson

I am a geomorphologist interested in the evolution of landscapes, with particular emphasis on alpine landscapes. I focus on processes, including glacial, coastal and fluvial erosion of bedrock. I employ cosmogenic radionuclides to constrain rates and timing in the landscape, field studies to document the specific processes acting, and numerical modeling to knit it all together.

• Andrea Weber ( RECCS cohort 2015 )
• Amanda Brenner ( RECCS cohort 2014 )
• David Schellhase ( RECCS cohort 2014 )

Amanda Back

Dr. Back is a research scientist working in the Assimilation and Verification Innovation Division at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratories, where she studies the use of satellite observations for numerical weather prediction. Her current projects include investigating how satellite observations can be used to improve smoke distributions and storm representation in the Rapid Refresh analysis and forecasting systems.

• Aislynn Connell ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Nichole Barger

Dr. Barger’s research mission is to better understand the impacts of changing climate and land use on plant communities and soil resources in dryland ecosystems; this research crosses the boundaries of community, ecosystem, and landscape ecology

• Savannah Bernal ( RECCS cohort 2015 )

Dave Barnard

Forest physiology; Ecohydrology; Snow Hydrology

• Brett Lindgren ( RECCS cohort 2016 )
• Kevin Thirouin ( RECCS cohort 2015 )

Holly Barnard

Dr. Barnard’s research is focused on investigating how vegetation processes affect water flow dynamics and pathways in soil and streams, and conversely, how water flow paths affect vegetation function in mountainous terrain. The ultimate goal is to improve our knowledge of how changes in land-use and/or climate will affect water resources and ecosystems. This interdisciplinary research uses state-of-the-art techniques to reveal patterns and processes at scales ranging from the leaf to the watershed.

• Kevin Thirouin ( RECCS cohort 2015 )

Katy Barnhart

Katy Barnhart is a geomorphologist interested in the evolution of landscapes and the physical processes that make and move sediment. Her work combines numerical modeling, field observations, and the development of new methods of model-data comparison. Her work covers many geomorphic regions—from Arctic coasts to steep mountainous hillsides—and a wide range of timescales—from seconds to millions of years. She is also involved in the development of scientific software and is interested in developing best practices for reproducible research.

• Keely Lawrence ( RECCS cohort 2019 )
• Jessica Ghent ( RECCS cohort 2018 )

Theo Barnhart

Snow and mountain hydrology, terrestrial laser scanning, periglacial processes, process geomorphology, topographic analysis. His research study area is the Critical Zone Observatory.

• Randall Rouse ( RECCS cohort 2016 )
• Jesse Barber ( RECCS cohort 2016 )

Pragallva Barpanda

CIRES post doc Pragallva Barpanda joined PSL's Atmosphere Ocean Processes team in September 2020 to work with George Kiladis, Stefan Tulich and Juliana Dias. Her main research focuses on better understanding the atmospheric interaction between tropics and extratropics in sub-seasonal timescale. In the future, she also wants to understand how climate change affects the tropical-extratropical interaction. After pursuing a Master’s degree in Physics from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India, Pragallva received her PhD in atmospheric dynamics from the University of Chicago in 2020. Her PhD research focused on the dynamics of extratropical storm tracks in various timescales.

• Carson Cucarola ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Joseph Barsugli

Joe Barsugli is a research scientist at CIRES -- the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences -- at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and at the Western Water Assessment, a joint effort between NOAA and CU. Trained in climate theory and modeling, his current research focuses on improving the methods used for attribution of historical trends and events, and on understanding the causes of drought in the Western United States and the decline in Colorado River flows. He is passionate about connecting climate science with practitioners and technical staff who are informing planning for water and land management in the Colorado region, and connecting researchers to the problems faced by managers.

• Liam Milton ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Jennifer Berry

Jennifer Berry’s broad research interests are focused on atmospheric chemicals that can impact and change our environment and that likely have anthropogenic sources. Her current research is on the characterization of the response of our L-TOF-CIMS to organic nitrogen compounds, like urea and dimethylamine, that can be found in our atmosphere. She is particularly interested in heterocyclic nitrogen compounds, like pyrrole, which can come from fossil fuels and biomass burning.

• Katherine Thompson ( RECCS cohort 2019 )
• Davin Duke ( RECCS cohort 2018 )

Nels Bjarke

I am currently a Ph.D student at the University of Colorado Boulder and a research assistant in the field of hydrology. My research primarily focuses on the impact that climate change is having on water resources, specifically in alpine regions that hold a vital natural reservoir of water: snow.


Nels Bjarke completed his B.S. in Earth and Planetary Science in 2014 and M.S. of Earth and Planetary Science in 2019. Nels's previous research focused on climate variability and the impact of warming regional temperatures in the southwestern US on the relationship between snow-pack and subsequent runoff season streamflow. Currently, Nels is pursuing his Ph.D. in the Civil Engineering department at CU Boulder. His research at CU Boulder is focused on catchment-scale hydrologic modeling at the Niwot Ridge LTER site. Specifically, Nels is interested in investigating the efficacy of temporal and spatial meteorological infilling techniques for application in the DHSVM hydrologic model.

 

• Liam Milton ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Kyren Bogolub

Kyren is originally from Chicago IL. She has a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Montana. Here in Boulder, Kyren studies how plate tectonics shape the landscapes in the western US. She loves doing research and learning new things, but her true passion is teaching and sharing science with other people. Kyren also love dogs, skiing, and food.

• Rebecca Holmes ( RECCS cohort 2017 )

Daniel Bon

Daniel Bon completed his PhD in Atmospheric Chemistry in 2011 and the University of Colorado, Boulder and the NOAA ESRL Chemical Sciences Division, where his research focused on PTR-MS field measurements of volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere. Since 2011, Dr. Bon has worked for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control Division and he is the Lead Investigator for the Colorado Air Monitoring Mobile Laboratory (CAMML), which he and his team designed and built in response to a recommendation from the 2014 Colorado Governor’s Oil and Gas Task Force. Dr. Bon is also a team member of the Oil and Gas Health Information and Response Program (OGHIR) at CDPHE and co-chair of the Western States Air Resources Council (WESTAR) Technical Committee. Before attending graduate school, he taught high school chemistry and physics for 5 years and also worked as a photographer, divemaster, research diver and environmental education instructor.

• Khokolah Sherzad ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Ilann Bourgeois

Ilann's current research focuses on the sources, transport, reactivity and air quality impact of nitrogen species (e.g., NOx, HNO3, PAN, HONO) and ozone (O3). Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are principally emitted by combustion sources, both natural (wildfires) and anthropogenic (fuel combustion) and are primarily responsible together with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for the formation of O3. O3 is a secondary air pollutant of particular concern for air quality in most major urban centres on Earth, and also for climate owing to its significant contribution to the global radiative balance.  

• Riley Breshears ( RECCS cohort 2020 )
• Mai Abdelrahman ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Melissa Breeden

Melissa Breeden, part of the Atmosphere-Ocean Processes team at the NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory

CIRES researcher Melissa Breeden (she/her) joined PSL's Atmosphere–Ocean Processes Team in January 2021. Melissa develops real-time subseasonal forecast models of environmental conditions relevant to agriculture for regions important to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). Using a linear inverse model, she has developed a forecast model for sub-seasonal precipitation over Afghanistan, which will be implemented during the Afghan rainy season (November – April). Melissa also diagnoses sources of prediction skill, including ENSO and the MJO, for environmental conditions relevant to agriculture to bolster predictive understanding of Afghanistan's weather and climate. She next plans to develop forecasts for the Horn of Africa region.
 

• Xavier Cotton ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Tess Brewer

Research Interests: Soil is essential for much of life on earth. Microbes are ubiquitous in this environment – an estimated 108-109 microbial cells occupy one gram of soil with a diversity ranging from a few hundred to thousands of species. Soil microbes participate in carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and soil formation - all critical ecosystem processes, yet are poorly understood. I study these microbes with the hope of understanding how the BcCZO and native soils around the world are affected by their presence.

• Lady Grant ( RECCS cohort 2017 )
• Scott-Wesley Bean ( RECCS cohort 2016 )
• Caihong VanderBurgh ( RECCS cohort 2015 )

Jenny Briggs

Professional title: Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies
Department: Colorado School of Mines

BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Briggs served as a RECCS mentor and instructor in 2015-2019 while working at the US Geological Survey and CU Boulder. Now based at the Colorado School of Mines, she contributes to RECCS in an advisory capacity. Her primary research focused on the dynamics of fire, insect epidemics and forest management (e.g. restoration, fuel reduction, and prescribed burning) in Colorado. She may be reached at jsbriggs@mines.edu. 

• Marianne Blackburn ( RECCS cohort 2015 )

Laurel Brigham

Laurel Brigham is an ecologist interested in how landscape-level heterogeneity, driven by microhabitats, influences plant community assembly. She is currently a PhD candidate in Dr. Katharine Suding's lab in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder conducting research at the Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research station in the Front Range of CO.

• LeAnna Warren ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Ellie Browne

My group is primarily interested in developing instrumentation for measuring gases and aerosols in the atmosphere and in using this instrumentation to investigate how atmospheric processing affects the chemical composition of gases and aerosols. The group is specifically interested in organonitrogen and organosilicon compounds and investigates the fate of these compounds using laboratory and field measurements. Current work focuses on understanding the role of organonitrogen in new particle formation and growth, and in nitrogen deposition.

• Karla Lemus ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Carli Brucker

Graduate Student, Civil Engineering

Carli’s current research addresses the broad challenge of quantifying the impacts of wildfires on hydrologic responses in watersheds in the west. She is assisting in the design and creation of a laboratory wildfire and rainfall simulator, leading a field campaign and modeling effort to resolve the importance of terrain slope, rainfall intensity, and burn severity on runoff and sediment loading.

• Alex Brunson ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Matthew Burgess

I am an Assistant Professor in Environmental Studies and the Director of the Center for Social and Environmental Futures in CIRES, with a courtesy appointment in Economics. My research focuses on economic growth futures and their impacts on the environment and society, mathematical modeling of human-environment systems, and political polarization of environmental issues. I use a combination of mathematical and computer modeling, data synthesis, and collaboration with stakeholders, in order to make conceptual advances and link them to practice.

• Jessica DeGroot ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Sam Califf

Sam works on the GOES-R series magnetometers, which measure the Earth’s magnetic field at geostationary orbit.  The magnetometer is part of a suite of instruments designed to monitor space weather in order to alert customers of potential impacts ranging from power grid disruptions to hazardous energetic particle events in space.  Sam’s research interests include energetic particle dynamics in the Earth’s magnetosphere, electric and magnetic field measurements, spacecraft instrumentation, and instrument calibration.

• Kelly Sullivan ( RECCS cohort 2018 )

Casey Carroll

I am interested in climate change, plant-pollinator interactions, conservation, and large-scale habitat disturbance. I am particularly interested in the effects of warm temperatures on the temporal synchronicity of plant and pollinator interactions. My current project looks at the effects of increased nest temperatures on cavity-dwelling bees across an elevation gradient. This summer I will be leading fieldwork in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. My fieldwork will include placing bee nests and conducting flower surveys. This will help me monitor the physical effects of increasing temperatures on the bees and allow me to build a plant-pollinator network for each site.
My master’s work at the University of Florida focused on plant diversity within urban lawns. The goal of this research was to identify plant community characteristics within lawns that promote diverse and abundant arthropod communities. Ultimately, the research strove to promote more sustainable urban landscape practices.

Kelly Carscadden

Graduate Student, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; INSTAAR/Niwot LTER 

Kelly’s research focuses on how the interaction between genetic and environmental variation shapes species' ecological niche breadth. She aims to determine whether species-level breadth is composed of differently specialized, or broadly tolerant, populations in monkeyflower species.

• Brandon Sandoval ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Sarah Child

I use historic remotely sensed data to better understand the changes outlet glaciers flowing through the Transantarctic Mountains, East Antarctica have withstood for the past 40-60 years. I focus on fluctuations in ice surface elevations and basal crevasse initiation at the grounding lines of glaciers. The rendered products from the historic data (e.g. DEMs) combined with 1D modeling constitutes one of the longest timelines ever produced of glacier behavior from remotely sensed data. My research's expanded temporal scale provides new insight into the external forces acting on these glaciers and whether the changes in ice dynamics are due to climate change or natural glaciological processes.

• Dominique Garcia ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Aditya Choukulkar

Aditya Choukulkar received his PhD from Arizona State University, where his research centered on developing a vector retrieval technique based on optimal interpolation for retrieving two-dimensional wind fields from a coherent Doppler lidar. His current research focus is on characterizing uncertainties associated with Doppler lidar measurements. This work will lead to improved understanding of wind and turbulence retrievals and ensure proper interpretation of observations when comparing to forecast models.

• Mike Moore ( RECCS cohort 2018 )

Jesse Colangelo

Research Associate, Department of Geological Sciences

His current research projects investigate drivers and relicts of microbial evolution and focus on the viruses, bacteria and archaea of cold and salty environments and isotopic signatures preserved in the sedimentary and rock records as a result of microbial metabolism. This work employs laboratory-based microbiology and culturing, molecular biology, geochemistry and stable isotope techniques to characterize the mechanisms underlying these interactions.

• Alec Elder ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Max Cook

Max Cook is a graduate student working with Dr. Jennifer Balch in the Department of Geography. His work focuses on the social and ecological impacts of wildfires in the western United States. Specifically, he is interested in using "Big Data", including remote sensing, to understand the impacts of extreme fires and identify possible mitigation strategies for create fire-resilient communities. Max received his BS from Colorado State University in the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship in Natural Resource Management and GIS. He has spent 5 years working with The Nature Conservancy in Colorado and Utah as a Geospatial Analyst, where he continues to work on applied conservation issues. In his free time, he is an avid angler, biker, and backcountry skier.

• Adam Thomas ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Ashley Dancer

I am an Air Force Veteran and current PhD student at CU Boulder in the Environmental Studies Department. I’m also on Denver’s Sustainability Advisory Board, Science and Research Committee. My research interests vary, but I’m currently focused on exploring possible economic and population growth futures and what these futures could mean for society, the environment, and geopolitics. I’m also interested in researching effective strategies for creating favorable environmental policy outcomes. I have experience in different qualitative social science methods and will be expanding my methodological skills to focus more on quantitative research methods and dynamic systems modeling.

I have a B.S. in meteorology, MBA in Sustainable Real Estate Development, and M.S. in Environmental Studies. The research that contributed to my Master’s thesis won a Food Studies International Award for Excellence in 2018. I was also awarded a 2021 Graduate School Diversity Recruitment Fellowship.

I currently live in Broomfield with my long-time partner, who is an electrical engineer. In my free-time, I enjoy practicing jujitsu, watching stand-up comedy, attending themed events (costumes required), listening to podcasts, and hitting the gym.

• Jessica DeGroot ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Gijs de Boer

Dr. Gijs de Boer is a Research Scientist at the University of Colorado’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and is an associate director of the Integrated Remote and In Situ Sensing (IRISS) program at CU. His research revolves around understanding the physics of the lower atmosphere and its interactions with the surface of the Earth, with a focus on high-latitude environments. This work includes analysis of data from long-term observatories and modeling studies, and has been strongly supported by internal efforts to develop and deploy uncrewed aircraft and other innovative observing capabilities in the lower atmosphere and upper ocean.

• Brianna Alcorn ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Juliana Dias

Juliana is part of the NOAA Atmosphere-Ocean Process Team. Her research interests include tropical variability and climate dynamics, simple models and observations of tropical waves, clouds and convection, and geophysical fluid dynamics.

• Austin Ortiz ( RECCS cohort 2019 )
• James Butts ( RECCS cohort 2018 )
• Jason Swain ( RECCS cohort 2017 )

Melisa Diaz

Bri Dobson

Bri Dobson's current research focuses on nitrogen-containing compounds and new particle formation and growth in the atmosphere. They are using L-TOF-CIMS measurements taken at the Southern Great Plains site in rural Oklahoma to obtain quantitative measurements of amines in the region. They are also interested in the vertical distribution of particle nucleation within the planetary boundary layer at this site.

• Karla Lemus ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Sabre Duren

Associate Director, Hydrologic Sciences Graduate Program; Interim Program Manager, CWEST; Research Staff, INSTAAR

Monitoring, protecting, and restoring natural aquatic ecosystems. Large-scale water quality, biology, and hydrology investigations. Educating and engaging clients and stakeholders to work collaboratively to develop successful long-term solutions for the integrity of watersheds. Development and implementation of several environmental education programs. 

• Nicole Fulgham-Scott ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Nancy Emery

Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; INSTAAR/Niwot LTER 

Emery’s lab works at the nexus of population biology, community ecology, and evolutionary biology to understand how plants adapt and persist in a constantly changing world. Their current research projects are specifically focused on the evolution of dispersal, habitat specialization, and phenotypic plasticity in plants that occupy variable environments.

• Brandon Sandoval ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Emily Fairfax

Emily Fairfax double majored in chemistry and physics as an undergraduate at Carleton College, and now studies hydrology within the Department of Geological Sciences at CU. Her research focuses on the ecohydrology of riparian areas, particularly those that have been impacted by beaver damming. She uses a combination of remote sensing, modeling, and field work to understand how beaver damming changes these landscapes and on what timescales those changes operate.

• Sean Will ( RECCS cohort 2018 )

Vanessa Gabel

My research focuses on understanding the geological forces that have shaped the High Plains since Miocene time. I use numerical models to study the effects of changing climate and tectonics on the landscape evolution of the Plains, and I validate those models with DEM analysis and field data.

• Mark Irby-Gill ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Ash Gilbert

Ash is a PhD student working with Dr. Jen Kay in the Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences department at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Their research interests include modeling the radiation from supercooled liquid in the Arctic and polar cloud processes more generally. Before coming to Boulder, Ash completed their bachelor's in Climate & Meteorology with minors in Computer Science & Latin at the University of Michigan.

Mike Gooseff

Study the intersections of earth systems and ecosystems focusing on hydrology, solute transport, watersheds, streams and glaciers. Dr. Gooseff’s research focuses on stream-groundwater interactions, hyporheic exchange, stream/hyporheic restoration, and climate change in polar and temperate regions.

• Joseph Gomora ( RECCS cohort 2015 )
• Amanda Espinoza-Martinez ( RECCS cohort 2016 )

Joost de Gouw

My group’s main interests are the sources and chemical transformations of air pollutants in the atmosphere and indoor environments, the formation of ozone and secondary organic aerosol, and the impact that these processes have on air quality, climate change, and human health. To study these issues, we use measurements of organic compounds by mass spectrometry and gas chromatography. We also analyze the results from satellite remote sensing measurements of air pollutants and greenhouse gases.

• Khokolah Sherzad ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Katheryn Grabenstein

Graduate Student, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; INSTAAR/Niwot LTER 

Kathryn’s work focuses on establishing a long-term study, the Boulder Chickadee Study, as an experimental framework. She constructs hundreds of nest boxes alongside numerous undergraduates and lab mates, affix these boxes to Ponderosas, Spruces, Firs & Aspen throughout Boulder backyards, and then monitor the chickadee families that move in.

• Nicole Fulgham-Scott ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Toby Halamka

Toby Ann Halamka (she/her) is a PhD student in the Department of Geological Sciences working in the Organic Geochemistry and Geomicrobial Physiology and Evolution lab. Her research focuses on determining the source organisms for the orphaned lipids brGDGTs. Toby’s work centers on connecting the physiological roles of tetraether lipids in soil bacteria with the genetic basis for biosynthesizing brGDGTs. Her work is motivated by the need to further the organic geochemistry community’s understanding of the environmental distribution of bacterial tetraether lipids and their utility in paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Toby is also passionate about increasing the visibility and support of LGBTQ+ geoscientists and encourages anybody that is interested in this mission to join her organization Geo+.

Kate Hale

Graduate Student, Department of Geography/INSTAAR

Kate is a snow scientist interested in the effects of warming on regional snowpack and downstream water. Her work combines hydrologic modeling and field observations to better predict water resources within the Colorado Front Range, across the Western Rockies, and the entirety of the U.S.

• Nicole Fulgham-Scott ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Angela Hansen

Graduate Student, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; INSTAAR/Niwot LTER 

Angela is broadly interested in the interactions that hosts have with their parasites, particularly in the face of ongoing host hybridization. She looks for a variety of different parasites in a variety of different hosts, such as blood parasites in rosy finches and chickadees, or nematomorphs in field crickets.

• Vanessa Arnold ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Edward Hartnett

I am the author of NetCDF-4, a freely available software library for scientific data, used by NASA, NOAA, the ESA, and climate and meteorology scientists around the world.

I am currently working on improving parallel IO performance for the scientific modeling community with the Parallel IO library, a C/Fortran library that runs on supercomputers, as part of weather and climate models.

I have also supervised several excellent software engineering teams, including the Production Software Team as part of Ground Data Systems for several NASA missions, including Messenger, Cassini, MAVEN, MMS, SORCE, AIM, and TSIS.

https://gsl.noaa.gov/profiles/Edward.Hartnett

Brian Harvey

Subalpine forests in the Colorado Front Range are critical providers of habitat, water, carbon storage, and recreation - but they may be in trouble. Recent decades have seen accelerating rates of tree death, labeled "forest decline" in cases when the exact cause is not known. In our research, we are forest detectives, testing hypotheses about what killed trees in the past, what is killing them now, which trees are surviving, and what it all means for the future of Colorado's forests.

• Shala Wallace ( RECCS cohort 2016 )

Carrie Havrilla

Carrie is interested in a broad range of research questions at the interface of basic and applied dryland ecology. These include examining plant species adaptation to climate change, landscape genomics of dryland plant species to improve restoration seed sourcing, and the consequences of fuel-reduction treatments on arid woodland ecosystem functioning. Currently, she is investigating the biotic interactions of biological soil crusts and vascular plant communities in drylands of the Southwestern US.

• Savannah Bernal ( RECCS cohort 2015 )

Ulla Heede

Dr. Ulla Heede joined the Oceans and Climate Lab in Fall 2022 as a CIRES Postdoctoral Fellow. She completed her Ph.D. in Earth & Planetary Sciences at Yale; her research is on tropical climate dynamics, especially toward understanding how the tropical Pacific coupled ocean-atmosphere system responds to anthropogenic radiative forcing. Ulla completed her undergraduate education at the University of Cambridge (UK). As a graduate student at Yale, her research combining satellites and climate models was recognized by NASA through the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) fellowship. While at CU, Ulla plans to isolate the climate impacts associated with an enhanced eastern Pacific warming using state-of-the-art global climate models. An overarching goal of her work is to build bridges between large-scale climate dynamics and societal and policy relevant information on climate impacts. In addition, she is part of a project lead by Prof. Aneesh Subramanian working on understanding tropical air-sea interactions using high-resolution models and machine learning.

Margaret Hegwood

Eve-Lyn Hinckley

Eve-Lyn Hinckley’s academic interests focus on quantifying how interactions among biogeochemical, hydrological, and ecological processes affect nutrient cycling at multiple scales.  She explores these interactions in a range of settings—including those where human influence is remote and where it is immediate. Eve’s foundation in conducting process-based studies at plot-to-regional scales has informed her more recent involvement in collaborative efforts to design and use network resources for addressing questions at broad scales.  In all of her research endeavors, Eve enjoys collaborating with colleagues and practitioners who bring different perspectives to the research and are interested in working together to incorporate new scientific results into land management decisions. 

• Magdalena Franchois ( RECCS cohort 2021 )
• Aubrey Jackson ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Hannah Holland-Moritz

Graduate Student, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Holland-Moritz is a 4th year PhD student studying microbial ecology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research focuses on microbes associated with Alaskan mosses and the ecological processes that shape microbial communities.

• Savanna Pierce ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Molly Huber

Terrestrial biogeochemistry, soil science, wetland biogeochemistry, alpine wetlands, soil redox, effects of global change on wetland nutrient cycling.

• Aubrey Jackson ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Mimi Hughes

Dr. Hughes’s research focuses on improving the understanding of key orographic meteorological physical processes, especially those important to the mid-latitude water cycle and those potentially impactful to ocean circulation and sea ice cover in the Arctic. Her primary tools in this endeavor are dynamically-downscaled reanalysis datasets, generated using a state-of-the-art regional climate model (i.e., the Weather Research and Forecasting model and the Regional Arctic System Model [RASM]) with reanalysis data as the lateral boundary conditions (e.g., ERA Interim).

• Luca Collins ( RECCS cohort 2015 )

Mylène Jacquemart

Mylène Jacquemart is interested in the ways climate change influences the hazard disposition in our world's mountains and how we can use satellite and ground based remote sensing techniques to better understand and forecast these changes.

• Joseph Brown ( RECCS cohort 2018 )

Katya Jay

Katya is a Postdoctoral Scholar part of Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research and the Suding Lab. Her specialty includes plant ecology, climate change, and ecogeomorphology.

• Alexandra Emond ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Kris Karnauskas

Kris Karnauskas is a Fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC) at the University of Colorado Boulder, with secondary faculty appointments in the CU School of Medicine and the Colorado School of Public Health. Prior to joining the CU Boulder faculty, Kris spent six years on the faculty of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography (also teaching at Boston College) followed by sabbatical at the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL) in Paris, France through a Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Kris completed his B.S. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ph.D. at the University of Maryland-College Park, both in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Ocean and Climate Physics at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. Kris currently serves as Editor for AGU's Geophysical Research Letters and Section Editor for PLOS Climate, and recently served on the Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) of the U.S. Climate Variability and Predictability Program (US CLIVAR). Kris was the recipient of the 2017 Ocean Sciences Early Career Award from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) ""for important contributions to better understanding the tropical oceans and atmosphere."" During the spring of 2022, Kris was on sabbatical at Harvard University's Center for the Environment.

https://www.colorado.edu/oclab/kris-karnauskas

Jen Kay

Jen Kay is an associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and a CIRES Associate Director and Fellow at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Kay researches climate change, feedbacks, and variability, with a specific focus on connecting global coupled climate modeling with observed cloud, precipitation, and sea ice processes.

• Jason Chalmers ( RECCS cohort 2018 )
• Susannah Rozak ( RECCS cohort 2018 )

John Keller

Dr. John Keller is the Director of Fiske Planetarium and a Teaching Professor of Distinction within the Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences Department at the University of Colorado Boulder. Keller is a planetary scientist with research interests in occultations, astronomy education, and teacher preparation. He is PI and Co-PI for multiple NASA and NSF funded projects through which Fiske produces immersive full dome films that are shared with the planetarium community worldwide free of charge. He also helped establish and run the Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network (RECON), an NSF-funded citizen science effort involving over 40 high schools across the western US to measure objects out beyond Neptune using stellar occultations, and he has contributed to international occultation campaigns on three continents for the NASA New Horizons and NASA Lucy missions. Keller is also a Professor Emeritus from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where he directed the Center for Engineering, Science, and Mathematics Education (CESAME) and ran the STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) Program, which provides paid summer research experiences at national labs for aspiring science and math teachers. Keller was also PI for three awards from the NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.

After obtaining a BS in Biology and an MA in Education from Stanford University, Dr. Keller taught high school science in the Bay Area for five years. He completed an MS in Astrophysics from the University of Colorado and his PhD in Planetary Science at the University of Arizona where he worked for the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission. His dissertation also involved the development of a concept inventory instrument to uncover student misconceptions regarding the greenhouse effect.

https://www.colorado.edu/fiske/dr-john-keller

Heather Kenny

Heather is interested in understanding the importance of behavioral variation in different ecological contexts, and in exploring how individual variation in behavioral traits scale up to influence group, population, and community level processes. She is fascinated by questions such as "how do individual behavioral phenotypes mediate species interactions?" and "how can environmental conditions shape behavioral diversity within populations?". 

• Elizabeth Mathews ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Sung Min Kim

Sung Min Kim is a PhD student in Civil Engineering with an emphasis on Civil Systems and a GAANN fellow for revitalizing U.S. infrastructure at CU Boulder. She graduated with the Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from Cornell University in May 2019. She has had the opportunity to design water treatment plants, work on reservoir modeling through a collaborative NOAA research proposal on the Upper Colorado River Basin, and analyze NCAR’s Community Earth System Model 1 North American Monsoon simulation biases. Currently, she is doing power system optimization and energy market research.

• Kyle Greaves ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Sebastian Kopf

Sebastian Kopf. Assistant Professor, Department of Geological Sciences

His research and teaching interests combine various aspects of the geological and biological sciences with the goal of understanding how microbial life has shaped the Earth’s surface chemistry in the past and how it continues to do so today. His research's current focus is primarily aimed at understanding (and reconstituting) environmentally relevant growth conditions and uncovering the physiological basis and environmental production of biological signatures (isotopic, molecular and mineralogical).

• Adeena Chughtai ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Sebastion Kopf

Assistant Professor,  Department of Geological Sciences

His research and teaching interests combine various aspects of the geological and biological sciences with the goal of understanding how microbial life has shaped the Earth’s surface chemistry in the past and how it continues to do so today. His research's current focus is primarily aimed at understanding (and reconstituting) environmentally relevant growth conditions and uncovering the physiological basis and environmental production of biological signatures (isotopic, molecular and mineralogical).

• Alec Elder ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Ryan Langendorf

I am an aspiring theoretical ecologist in both the Environmental Studies and Interdisciplinary Quantitative Biology programs working on theory and algorithms to infer causality in dynamic ecosystems from observational data. What does that actually mean? Well, I spend my time buried in equations and code, trying to improve the ways ecologists answer questions like “What role does the structure of a food web play in its stability and persistence?”, “What structures of competitive interactions best support restoration efforts?”, “In what ways can we infer dynamics of an unknown community from a heavily studied one?”, “What is the impact of species aggregation on predictions of community stability?”, “Do communities develop in predictable ways with regard to the way they are structured?”, and most importantly, “What are ecological interactions, and how can we realistically and usefully describe them?”. Answering these questions would not be possible without the collaborations and methodological exposure I have found in the IQ Biology program.

• Jessica DeGroot ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Erik Larson

Erik Larson is an atmospheric scientist interested in Earth and planetary atmospheres, which he studies with numerical models. He is a research scientist with the Chemical Sciences Division at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). His research includes estimating Earth's radiative forcing and energy budget from the CMIP5 output. He also develops and applies the NCAR CESM model to problems including the effects of rocket emissions and the seasonal cycle of aerosols on Titan.

• Mai Abdelrahman ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Zach Laubach

My work is grounded in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology. In particular, I seek to understand the ways in which early life environments shape phenotype. I am drawn to research questions that explore the interrelations among social behaviors, molecular mechanisms, and stress physiology. This has led me to use tools from diverse fields, including molecular biology and physiology to identify proximate mechanisms of animal behaviors and phenotypes; and causal inference methods from epidemiology to better understand relationships gleaned from observational data.

• Elizabeth Mathews ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Regina Leuty

Regina is interested in the fields of wildlife management and conservation biology. She is working with the Lambert lab, focusing on biological and observational data collection to aid in the further study of coyote populations within the Denver metro area.

• Victoria Macias ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Sarah Leventhal

Sarah Leventhal is a PhD candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is an invertebrate paleontologist interested in the evolution of modular animals, particularly bryozoans!

• Meliah Dubus ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Anna Liao

Anna Liao is a scientific software engineer in the space weather group. She works on software cloud infrastructure for development of space weather product algorithms.

• Jae Robinson ( RECCS cohort 2021 )
• Holly McCrory ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Ben Livneh

Fellow of CIRES, Professor in Civil Engineering

Ben is a physical hydrologist, with primary research interests into how land cover and climate changes will affect water availability in the western U.S. Several recent projects have focused on drought within the Colorado River Basin, its drivers, and how changes in seasonal snowpack may impact our ability to predict the total amount of water available to us in the river.

• Liam Milton ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

AJ Krieger Lodge

Sage Madden

Sage is broadly interested in the fields of animal behavior and conservation biology. She is  particularly interested in how organisms adapt to novel environments and how wildlife and humans interact in anthropogenic landscapes. Sage is currently working on an undergraduate Honors thesis in the Safran lab examining how female Barn Swallows alter their foraging and parental care behavior in response to changes in brood size. 

• Elizabeth Mathews ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Monica Madronich

Monica works in the Carbon Cycle group at NOAA GMD, focusing on global atmospheric measurements of long-lived greenhouse gases and studying the impacts of oil and gas well pads on air quality. In addition, her doctoral studies focused on the influence of landscape structure, landscape configuration, and plant developmental stage on biogenic emissions.

• Elizabeth (Izzy) Wallace ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Peter Martin

I was born in San Diego, California but grew up in Gainesville, Florida. After graduating high school in 2010, I went to Wesleyan University for college. While I had originally planned to work towards a degree in chemistry, after taking Introduction to Planetary Geology, I changed directions and double majored in both Earth Science and Chemistry. My senior thesis focused on the potential for liquid brines at the Martian surface. I then moved to Los Angeles for graduate school at Caltech in 2014, where I worked on data being returned from the Curiosity rover. Having defended my PhD in December of 2019, I am now working as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Colorado Boulder.

• Elizabeth Mathews ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Diane McKnight

Research focuses on interactions between hydrologic, chemical and biological processes in controlling the dynamics in aquatic ecosystems. This research is carried out through field-scale experiments, modeling, and laboratory characterization of natural substrates. A co-principal investigator in the McMurdo Dry Valley LTER and in the Niwot Ridge LTER.

• Margaret Baker ( RECCS cohort 2015 )
• Mary Cruz ( RECCS cohort 2014 )

Thomas Merchant

Research interests: Plant community, ecosystem ecology, and global change, plant-microbial interactions, data science.

• Matthew Martinez ( RECCS cohort 2021 )
• Rylee Baca ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Toby Minear

Dr. Minear completed his undergraduate degree at Colorado College and later received Masters and PhD degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Before joining CIRES, Dr. Minear worked as a Research Hydrologist at the United States Geological Survey at the California Water Science Center and the National Research Program. Dr. Minear works on a variety of river research and hydrodynamic modeling projects in California and the Western U.S., including the San Joaquin River, Trinity River, Klamath River, Merced River in Yosemite National Park, and Elwha River Dam Removal Project. Dr. Minear is a Science Team and Cal/Val Team member for the upcoming NASA Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Mission and serves on the U.S. Subcommittee on Sedimentation.

• Marie Lim ( RECCS cohort 2021 )
• Aislynn Connell ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

John Moody

Research Hydrologist, USGS

John’s primary research involves hydrodynamics, hydrology, runoff, sediment transport, and streamflow.

• Hailee Nolan ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Annareli Morales

Dr. Annareli Morales performs research on precipitation over mountains and the physical processes involved with cloud and precipitation development using numerical modeling and observational datasets. Currently, she is developing a science plan based off the Study of Precipitation, the Lower Atmosphere and Surface of Hydrometeorology (SPLASH) 2021-2022 field campaign in the East River watershed in Colorado. The main theme of this research is understanding how well NOAA operational models can represent orographic precipitation and the associated mesoscale and microphysics processes. In addition to physical science research, Annareli is passionate about diversity, inlcusion, science communication, and public outreach.

• Brianna Alcorn ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Sara Morris

Sara Morris is a NOAA Federal Research Scientist for the Physical Sciences Laboratory. Her scientific background is in climate and Arctic research. Her specialty areas are in Arctic ground heat fluxes – a critical component of the surface energy budget, of which spatial and temporal analysis of the ground heat flux demonstrates the impact of the term on Arctic melt, and research in ice mitigation strategies for Arctic instrumentation, specifically broadband radiometers, to investigate the impact of data lost in Polar Regions due to harsh weather conditions. Co-leading the De-Icing Comparison Experiment (D-ICE), her research focuses on improvements to radiation instrumentation capturing measurements in harsh Arctic environments, so that the scientific community can better account for discrepancies in the radiative term of the surface energy budget.

• Brianna Alcorn ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Ariel Morrison

Ariel Morrison’s research focuses on the physical processes of the Arctic climate system and how the Arctic is changing in a warming world. She uses satellite observations and climate models to study the relationships between clouds and sea ice. Her other research passion is geoscience education research: she uses biometric data to measure student engagement in climate change classes to improve undergraduate interest in and learning retention of climate science information.

• Susannah Rozak ( RECCS cohort 2018 )

Keith Musselman

I’m excited about empirically based, theoretically grounded, and societally attuned science! My research goals are to assess climate change impacts on water availability, to measure and model ecohydrologic cold region processes across scales, and to develop approaches in collaboration with diverse stakeholder groups to inform sustainable adaptation and decision strategies.

I am committed to building a diverse research community, where everyone feels they belong, and we collectively benefit from our differences. I am motivated by the excitement of scientific discovery and the thrill of collaborative research. Efforts to be more inclusive will improve our knowledge and better serve the decisions of individuals and organizations. I believe these efforts can foster better outcomes for society and our environment.

https://www.colorado.edu/instaar/keith-musselman

Manoj Nair

Manoj is part of the NOAA GEOMAG team. His research interests include electromagnetic induction in Earth and oceans by external magnetic sources, electric and magnetic signals generated by the motion of sea water, equatorial ionospheric currents and fields, crowdsourcing Earth's magnetic data and analysis of ground and satellite magnetic data.
 

• Holly McCrory ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

John Ogren

John is responsible for learning, training and development for all employees in the NWS in the areas of Science, Service, Electronics & IT and Employee Development.

• Alex McPherson ( RECCS cohort 2017 )

Airy Peralta

Airy Peralta uses quantitative and geospatial science to assess the effects of the natural and anthropogenic disturbances in threatened wildlife populations. Her recent project focuses on understanding how the microclimate's processes of pika's habitat influence this species distribution to evaluate the implications of the ongoing human-aided climate change in the future distribution of the species.

• Crystal Gonzalez ( RECCS cohort 2021 )
• Daniel De Souza ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Gaby Petron

Research Scientist, NOAA/GMD, CIRES

Gaby works in the Carbon Cycle group at NOAA GMD, focusing on global atmospheric measurements of long-lived greenhouse gases and co-emitted trace gases and local to global scale studies of air pollution and emissions. She has contributed to several projects investigating hydrocarbon emissions and ozone in oil and natural gas producing basins.

• Elizabeth (Izzy) Wallace ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Lincoln Pitcher

I use satellite, aircraft and ground based remote sensing along with spatial data science and glaciohydrologic field methods to study ice sheet and hydrologic dynamics in terrestrial and cryospheric Polar regions.

• Sydney Crites ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Briana Prado

Briana Prado is a graduate student in the Geography department working under Dr. Melisa Diaz on chemical weathering of Antarctic soils. This summer Briana and RECCS mentee Izze will be conducting grain size analysis of McMurdo Dry Valley soils to understand the chemical composition and weathering processes of the soils.  Briana and Izze will then develop skills in XRD preparation and analysis and work on identifying composition of samples. 

Briana is from San Diego, CA and completed her undergrad at UC Santa Cruz double majoring in Earth Science and Chemistry. She is generally interested in biogeochemical cycles with an emphasis on the geochemical aspect of those processes. Briana enjoys going to concerts, playing ukulele and biking around Boulder and looks forward to building community at CIRES this summer.

Imtiaz Rangwala

Regional Climate Projections, Climate Change in US Southwest, High Elevation Climate Change (Colorado Rockies & Tibetan Plateau), Regional Climate Models, Climate Downscaling, Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources.

• William Radmacher ( RECCS cohort 2017 )
• Jessica Johnstone ( RECCS cohort 2014 )

Chris Ray

Research Associate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; INSTAAR/Niwot LTER

Chris Ray studies and models the dynamics of plant and animal populations, focusing especially on threatened species with fragmented populations. Her long-term project involves research on the American pika, aimed at understanding climatic influences on pre-historic and recent local extinctions of this species throughout western North America.

• Crystal Gonzalez ( RECCS cohort 2021 )
• Daniel De Souza ( RECCS cohort 2020 )
• Claire Atkins ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Laura Rea

My interests are in understanding the transformation and transport of metals as they move through the environment. My past work has focused on examining the interactions between metals and biological systems and how these interactions can be applied at large scales to address issues pertinent to human and environmental health. 

• Magdalena Franchois ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Nathan Reed

Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Nate is interested in organic haze formation of planetary atmospheres with application to the atmospheres of Saturn's moon Titan and the early Earth. He plans to conduct laboratory simulations of these atmospheres to elucidate the composition and optical properties of the haze products as well as the haze formation mechanism.

• Katherine Thompson ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Julian Resasco

Julian Resasco

Assistant Professor EBIO University of Colorado, Boulder. 

The unifying theme of our lab’s research is to understand how human stressors to the environment affect biodiversity and how to mitigate those impacts. These stressors include changes to landscapes, climate change, and species introductions. We often study spatial and temporal dynamics and use field studies at large spatial and long temporal scales to test theory and link ecological patterns with processes. Areas of research include landscape connectivity/corridors, habitat fragmentation, plant-pollinator networks, insect community ecology, stable isotope ecology, and conservation biology. We work on a variety of taxa but have a particular fondness for insects. Settings for our fieldwork include the longleaf pine ecosystem of the southeastern US and forests and meadows of the Rocky Mountains.

lab website: https://www.colorado.edu/lab/resasco/

Michael Rush

Michael (Mickey) Rush is a dynamic leader, hydrologic modeler, writer, and educator. He brings a balance of computational expertise, field research experience, and leadership skills to projects related to water resources science and management. His Ph.D thesis research uses coupled thermo-hydrologic modeling to understand how changing mountain snowpacks may contribute to changes in seasonally frozen ground formation, and to what extent such frozen soils shift the timing and magnitude of subsurface flow. Through his research, he strives to engage local communities, serve the needs of stakeholders, and effectively communicate technical information in English and Spanish to non-scientific audiences.

• Magdalena Franchois ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Rebecca Safran

The role of adaptation in shaping phenotypic variation within and among closely related populations is a central theme in my research program. As an evolutionary ecologist, I am interested in the biological causes and consequences of variation in phenotype using molecular, comparative, and experimental methods. By adopting new comparative approaches (both empirical and synthetic), my current work is focused on determining how trait function affects patterns of gene flow. We are currently establishing new methods to test hypotheses about the relative contributions of geographic distance, history, natural and sexual selection in the evolution of reproductive isolation.

• Elizabeth Mathews ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Richard Saltus

Richard works with the NOAA GEOMAG team on an update to the EMAG2 global magnetic anomaly compilation.  The goal is to improve the resolution and reliability of the compilation to improve its applicability to geologic and tectonic interpretation.

• Jae Robinson ( RECCS cohort 2021 )
• Joshua Morlan ( RECCS cohort 2020 )
• Nelson Heider-Kuhn ( RECCS cohort 2019 )
• Prudence Crawmer ( RECCS cohort 2018 )
• Anjelique Morine ( RECCS cohort 2017 )
• Holly McCrory ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Sumit Sankhyan

Sumit's research is focused on investigating emissions of black and brown carbon indoors. His hobbies and interests include hiking and reading in addition to exploring bike routes in Boulder.

• Adjoa Sakwa ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Neesha Schenpf

Neesha Schnepf and her geomagnetism research group works with space-based, airborne, marine, and in-situ magnetic field observatories to study changes in Earth’s magnetic field on a minute, hourly, daily, and yearly time frame. The primary application of this research is to improve navigation accuracy for land, sea, and airborne modes of transportation, to enhance satellite orientation, and to explore natural resources.

• Nelson Heider-Kuhn ( RECCS cohort 2019 )
• Prudence Crawmer ( RECCS cohort 2018 )
• Joshua Morlan ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Warren Sconiers

As an undergraduate at UC Irvine, I took biology courses completed research that helped me realize how the tiny world of insects and plants influences so much around us, which led me to earn my Ph.D. in entomology at Texas A&M University. Here as an Insect Ecologist, I learned how bugs, plants, and their ecology work, as well as taught undergraduates about these interactions. It was here that I began to greatly enjoy teaching and looked forward to teaching more students about insects and ecology.

In 2016, I joined the University of the Ozarks where I continue to teach as well as research insect and plant interactions. This university provides a student-centered environment where I can get to know my students, learn their interests, and best help them succeed. 

• Christina Waddle ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Monica Sheffer

I use interdisciplinary approaches to answer questions about animals’ ecology, especially – but not exclusively – in the context of global climate change and adaptation to extreme and changing conditions. My work aims to integrate information from all levels of biological organization, from the molecular and physiological level, up to phenotypic outcomes for individuals, and how those outcomes shape population dynamics. As a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle, I am studying how survival and fecundity constraints vary with elevation in a montane grasshopper system, along a transect in the Rocky Mountains.

My PhD work at the University of Greifswald in Germany integrated genomics, metabolomics, physiology and microbiology to investigate the success of the European wasp spider, Argiope bruennichi, in rapidly colonizing new habitats in northern Europe. I got my start in science as an undergraduate researcher in the UC Berkeley EvoLab, where I made use of next generation sequencing paired with field observations to describe and quantify the dynamics of dietary and spatial niche partitioning in three web-sharing Hawaiian spider genera: Orsonwelles, Argyrodes, and Ariamnes. I continue to collaborate with the Berkeley EvoLab on a project within the California Conservation Genomics Project, where we are studying landscape genetics and adaptation to the environment in two spider species, Tetragnatha versicolor and T. laboriosa.

Photo by Kathleen Sheffer Photography

Patrick Sheridan

Dr. Sheridan’s primary responsibility is to oversee the operation and data flow of the NOAA ESRL Global Federated Aerosol Network. The goals of this surface aerosol monitoring program are to characterize means, variability, and trends of climate-forcing properties of different types of aerosols, and to understand the factors that control these properties.

• Alex McPherson ( RECCS cohort 2017 )

Charlie Shobe

Charlie focuses on understanding rivers and their influence on the landscape from a process-based perspective. He uses field studies, GIS tools, and numerical models to explore how soil moisture properties influence flooding, the effects of weathering on erosion in bedrock rivers, and how channel-hillslope interactions affect the development of our Front Range landscape.

• Taylor Schoenfeld ( RECCS cohort 2016 )
• Moana Sato ( RECCS cohort 2015 )

Eric Small

Eric Small’s research is focused on the physical processes that control the water, energy, and carbon budgets of the Earth's land surface. Vegetation, soil, and the atmosphere strongly influence surface water fluxes and storage and therefore are monitored and modeled in this research. The processes he studies act across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from the influence of plants on surface water redistribution and infiltration during rainstorms to the effects of land-atmosphere interactions on continental-scale rainfall anomalies. His research combines modeling and data analysis, with the latter combining measurements from the field, lab, and remote sensing.

• Sean Will ( RECCS cohort 2018 )

Tasha Snow

Tasha’s research interests include high latitude ocean, cryosphere, and climate change. Her PhD research focuses on satellite remote sensing of ice sheets and ice sheet-ocean interactions. Tasha is a veteran of the US Navy.

• Sheena Skinner ( RECCS cohort 2017 )
• Matthew Martinez ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Marko Spasojevic

I am a plant community ecologist working at the interface of ecology, biogeography and conservation. My broad goal is to understand the mechanisms that influence patterns of biodiversity, and then to use that understanding to address environmental issues. My research combines large-scale observational studies across biogeographic regions, field experiments, functional and phylogenetic approaches, and advanced statistics and modeling to address environmental issues and to explore fundamental questions in ecology.

https://biology.ucr.edu/people/faculty/Spasojevic.html

Robert Steenburgh

I am a space scientist bringing research to bear on space weather forecasting, and informing the research community of operational needs. My interests encompass all aspects of solar, helio, and geophysics. I am also interested in forecast verification and human factors.

• Nicholas Leftridge ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Jilmarie Stephens

Jilmarie received her Masters in Atmospheric Science from the University of California, Davis followed by her PhD in Soil Science from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.  Her research interests fall under the categories of biometeorology or micrometeorology. More specifically her work involves carbon and water fluxes, turbulence, greenhouse gas emissions, and physiological modeling. 

• Meliah Dubus ( RECCS cohort 2020 )

Ted Stets

Ted’s areas of expertise include surface water (non-marine), surface water quality, water quality, water budget, and the effects of human impacts upon them.

• April Schroeder ( RECCS cohort 2017 )

Nicolas Tarasewicz

My research interests center around understanding climate and anthropogenic impacts on ecosystem services through combining empirical measurements and modeling. 

I’m working with Keith Musselman on the Front Range Ecosystem Resilience Project. The project collects and integrates data regarding socio-cultural values, ecosystem processes, and land management considerations to identify and project climate change refugia related to montane regions along urban-wildland interfaces. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Growing Convergence Research program.

I’m from the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado. I completed my undergraduate degree in Geography from the University of Denver, and my Master’s in Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science at Lund University, Sweden, in 2022. While there, I developed a novel composite indicator representing the impact of modeled forest management practices on ecosystem services. My hobbies include spending time outdoors, performance art, and playing board games with friends.

https://www.colorado.edu/instaar/nicolas-tarasewicz

Scott Taylor

Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; INSTAAR/Niwot LTER

Research interests: Hybridization, speciation, evolutionary ecology, and population genomics (primarily of birds). His research applies genomics and field experiments to natural hybrid zones and closely related taxa in order to investigate the architecture of reproductive isolation—the hallmark of speciation—and the genetic bases of traits relevant to speciation.

• Vanessa Arnold ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Megan Thompson-Munson

Megan worked as an undergraduate research technician in Dr. Isla Castañeda's Biogeochemistry Lab where she used organic matter preserved in lake beds to reconstruct paleoclimate conditions in the East African Rift Valley during times of important hominin evolution. During her master's, Megan's focus shifted to glaciology and Greenland Ice Sheet dynamics. Working with Dr. Neil Humphrey, she used a full-depth array of englacial sensors to quantify ice deformation in three dimensions at a site along the western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Megan's PhD research will bridge the gap between her past experiences in climate and ice. She will be working on projects within the broad and interdisciplinary field of ice-ocean-climate interactions.

When she's not doing research, Megan enjoys hiking, camping, backpacking, and basket weaving. She is quite fond of national parks--especially Mount Rainier National Park where she worked as a park ranger in 2016 and saw her first glacier.

Kristy Tiampo

Dr. Tiampo’s research focuses on understanding the processes that govern natural and anthropogenic hazards. These studies incorporate large quantities of remote sensing data. Her team investigates the implications and consequences of hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, groundwater extraction, and induced seismicity on infrastructure and society.

• Aislynn Connell ( RECCS cohort 2021 )
• Joseph Brown ( RECCS cohort 2018 )
• Henry Arndt ( RECCS cohort 2017 )

Stefan Tulich

I am a Research Scientist III employed by CU/CIRES and working off-campus in the NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. I received my BS in physics from the Univ. of Miami and my PhD in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University. My research involves using observations and numerical models to improve understanding and prediction of large-scale tropical weather systems and their interactions with the extratropics. I live in Longmont with my partner and two kids, ages 14 and 12. If I'm not working, I'm usually out for a bike ride.

• Lucas Dimoveo ( RECCS cohort 2021 )
• Crystal Gonzalez ( RECCS cohort 2020 )
• Carson Cucarola ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Jen Underwood

Physical Science Technician, USGS

Jen’s primary research focus is to understand the fate, transport and survival of waterborne microbial pathogens as well as to identify how good microbes can be used to enhance the removal of chemical pollutants in our nation’s waters.

• Hailee Nolan ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Nina Vance

Nina is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at CU Boulder and she is also part of the faculty body in the Environmental Engineering program at CU. When she is not at work, she enjoys gardening, baking sourdough bread, hiking and backpacking in the Colorado mountains, and traveling to warm places to scuba dive.

• Adjoa Sakwa ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Ryan Webb

Ryan is interested in a variety of research topics including representing the snow as a porous media, vadose zone hydrology, hydrological impacts of forest fires, and water resources in developing countries.

• Kara Garcia ( RECCS cohort 2017 )

Ashley Whipple

Graduate Student, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; INSTAAR/Niwot LTER

Research interests: Population ecology, landscape ecology, conservation biology, climate change, citizen science. Current research focuses on Evaluating stress levels of American pika (Ochotona princeps) in Rocky Mountain National Park and the Colorado Front Range.

• Claire Atkins ( RECCS cohort 2019 )

Michael Willis

I am an assistant professor of geodesy and remote sensing rostered in the department of geological sciences. I am an expert on time-varying topography. I blend fieldwork with geodetic and remote sensing tools, and big-data to answer questions about the contribution of land based ice to sea level change, geodynamics, the evolution of megacities and landslides, earthquakes and volcano hazards. I am focused upon how problems scale both spatially and temporally and how computer vision algorithms can be applied to geophysical problems.

• Marie Lim ( RECCS cohort 2021 )
• Aislynn Connell ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Claire Winfrey

Claire Winfrey is a PhD student at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Research interests: aboveground-belowground linkages, dispersal, community ecology, ecosystem processes, microbial ecology, insect ecology, and biogeography.

• Danny De Souza ( RECCS cohort 2021 )

Brandon Wolding

Brandon Wolding, part of the Atmosphere-Ocean Processes team at the NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory

Brandon Wolding began his work at NOAA PSL as a NOAA Climate and Global Change fellow in 2018, investigating the role of moisture in convective coupling. In August of 2020 he joined the Atmosphere-Ocean Processes team, helping develop process-oriented diagnostics aimed at improving model representation of organized tropical convection. His previous work includes examining how tropical-extratropical interactions will change in a warming climate, furthering understanding of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), and the role of air-sea interactions in the MJO. Brandon first worked for NOAA as an observer biologist aboard longline tuna and swordfish boats in the Hawaiian and American Samoan fisheries.

• Xavier Cotton ( RECCS cohort 2022 )

Adam Younkin

As a curious student in academics, I worked in a wide range of laboratories including Exercise Physiology, Anatomy, Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Bioinformatics. Each one introduced a new facet of the world of Biology to investigate and appreciate. I am constantly driven to learn more about that world as well as utilizing that understanding to help society. My most desired opportunities in the future will certainly be along the lines of renewable resources, disease prevention, or teaching future scientists.

• Adeena Chughtai ( RECCS cohort 2022 )