Fall 2022 DEVELOPers of the Term
A recent graduate of the University of Arkansas with a BS in Earth science and a BA in Geography, Will Hadley entered DEVELOP with a strong background built through research on the drivers of drought variability, paleoclimate, and historical climate records. Over the course of the fall term, he applied his background in the climatology of drought to the Gatlinburg and Beatty Wildfires project. He delved into R to construct time series analyses capturing trends in antecedent soil moisture and the behavior of vegetation indices before wildfire events. These analyses were the cornerstones of the Gatlinburg and Beatty Wildfires project, and Will’s research provided invaluable information to guide project partners’ work. Will took the lead on partner meetings, directed conversations with the project’s science advisor, and effectively communicated the project methodology and results through these discussions. Will exemplifies so many qualities fundamental to DEVELOP. His passion for addressing environmental challenges is evident through his dedication to research on wildfire disasters, he has worked tirelessly through technical challenges to discover patterns in environmental variables in the service of supporting partners’ work, and he practiced great capacity for kindness, flexibility, and care through his collaboration with others.
Heidi Rogers was the project lead and a returning participant on the Southeast US Climate team at the Pop-Up Project node for a tech & innovation project, which focused on demonstrating and expanding methodologies to benefit future DEVELOP participants and end-user organizations. Regardless of challenges arising with leading a highly technical project, Heidi always asked relevant questions in anticipation of any potential roadblocks, showed foresight and the ability to collaborate with the team and project advisors, and helped to keep the project on track during the term despite the ambitious scope of the methods. In addition to Heidi’s well-developed leadership skills, she was also an instrumental component of the analysis and became incredibly invested in the project methods utilizing the Google Earth Engine JavaScript API. In her role, she was always interested in discovering new ways to approach problems in the code to help progress the project. Heidi embodies the core characteristics of a DEVELOP participant through her leadership, collaboration, and discovery of new pathways and methods.
Congratulations to Will and Heidi!
