I study the behavior of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and groundfish habitat associations.  Using a variety of field data and statistical methods, I hope to find out how diverse habitat characteristics (e.g., sediment type, water velocity, cover) influence the spatial distribution of individual fish and how it affects their population productivity and survival. These research findings will help managers better predict habitat occupancy and use of different fish species, increase our understanding of fish species’ habitat affinities, and inform management for a range of human activities (e.g., mining, development) which cause major threats to natural aquatic habitats around the world.

I apply and develop methods for analyzing data related to ecology and the environment. Recently I published a paper using statistical models to uncover evidence that Chinook salmon in the Pacific Northwest “help each other out” while migrating, resulting in faster migrations for larger populations. My current work focuses on developing a backtracking method for studying chemical markers in the environment. My method blends techniques from applied math and statistics to efficiently determine where markers might have originally released.

My research is focused on new and innovative approaches to forest management to achieve ecosystem wellbeing. While the livelihood of rural communities is inherently tied to public lands management, they don’t often get a say in how these lands are managed. Through the process of ethnoforestry, or using knowledge and input from local people and applying it to the forest management process, we are working with both tribal and non-tribal communities to understand how management can better meet their needs. In addition, we are applying this through an adaptive management field study where valuable plant species are actively grown alongside timber seedlings to achieve multiple goals (e.g. timber, cultural resources, habitat for wildlife, carbon storage, etc.).

I am researching the past winds, pressure and temperature around Antarctica during the 20th century as a means to contextualize the rapid glacier retreat we are seeing today on the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Most climate records in Antarctica start in 1979, so I am using data assimilation with a global database of proxy records, including ice cores, corals and tree rings, which document past climate conditions in their own ways. I was fortunate to be a part of a geophysical survey team to a remote site in Antarctica, where we collected ice-penetrating radar data to find a new site to drill an ice core that goes back ~130,000 years, which will answer more questions about the stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

I am working on a capstone project analyzing novel ecosystems in heavily industrialized rivers. My focus involves analyzing how a prototype barge-like “floating wetland” affects water quality, and in turn, potential impacts on juvenile salmon health and survivability during the critical early stages of their lives. I am also on the Program on Climate Change Graduate Student Steering Committee and contribute to the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs-student blog, “Currents,” helping communicate climate science and environmental justice issues to the general public.

My research has helped to identify extreme events called marine heatwaves, which occur throughout the global ocean. Although marine heatwaves have gained increased attention due to their negative impacts, little is known about the subsurface evolution of these events and the role that the ocean plays in their persistence. My recent work uses hundreds of profiling ocean robots called Argo developed at the School of Oceanography (UW) to measure changes in subsurface temperature and salinity during two prominent marine heatwaves in the North Pacific Ocean. Realizing that no two marine heatwaves are alike, we are interested to see how other events in different ocean basins compare.

Clouds alter patterns of sunlight and other forms of energy at Earth’s surface that matter for vegetation properties and functioning. Plants in turn release water vapor, help set air temperature and even change turbulent air motions near the ground in ways that impact where and how clouds form. My work focuses on these interactions with the goal of developing a better understanding of how the relationship between shallow clouds and plants affects local and regional climate. Using a combination of simple physical models, ground-based observations and aircraft measurements, I am researching the influence of deforestation and climate variability on cumulus clouds over the Amazon and the effect of new forest growth on clouds over the Arctic.

I study how elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer respond to recolonizing gray wolves in Northern Washington as part of the Washington Predator-Prey Project. My research areas have been profoundly shaped by large scale wildfire, extensive timber harvest and human activity. I investigate the direct and indirect effects of predators on prey survival, demographics and movement within this context. To do so, we capture, radio-collar, and track the movement and survival of the wildlife we study. My work contributes to understanding how landscape context influences carnivore-ungulate interactions with important implications for wildlife conservation and management in the American West.