Prescribed Burning Impacts to Ecosystem Services I am a Research Assistant for Earth Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder, exploring how prescribed burns impact multiple ecosystem services and functions across the Western US. Using techniques from causal inference and impact evaluation paired with machine learning and NASA observations from ECOSTRESS, MODIS, SRTM and GEDI, we can data mine to predict the effect of fuel treatments on ecosystem services. this research is supported by NASA.
Prescribed Burning Impacts to Social and Cultural Values As a Conservation Connect Fellow with the National Forest Foundation, I am collaborating with San Juan National Forest in Southwestern Colorado to understand and monitor how prescribed burns impact social and cultural values. Because social values are often intangible, they are commonly excluded from ecosystem service assessments. Yet these values are important to consider, especially on lands managed for managed for multiple uses including National Forests. This research is supported by the National Forest Foundation and the Joint Fire Science Program.
Synthesis Science for Prescribed Fire I am co-Principal Investigator of a Morpho Initiative Working Group, which aims to bring together an interdisciplinary group of researchers, decision-makers, and practitioners to synthesize and harmonize data on fuel treatments for wildfire management. This research is supported by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.
Natural Climate Solutions As a contractor for The Nature Conservancy, I am a collaborator on a global literature review to identify barriers to the implementation of Natural climate solutions (NCS). Natural climate solutions are conservation, restoration, and improved land management strategies that increase carbon storage or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in landscapes across the globe.