Chiara Phillips
The Medicine Bow National Forest (MBNF) consists of approximately 1,383,790 acres of forested land, grassland, and sagebrush steppe in southeastern Wyoming. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), an invasive plant species in the Western US, occurs in the grasslands throughout MBNF. Cheatgrass is...
Rachel Green
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the Western Basin of Lake Erie have been increasing in frequency and severity over the past decade. Cyanobacteria is the dominant phylum in the blooms that occur in Lake Erie. Microcystis, a species of cyanobacteria, is of particular concern...
Rachel Luo
The expansion of cities and infrastructure networks has raised concerns regarding the impact of growing artificial light pollution on wildlife and human well-being. In addition to degrading night skies for aesthetic viewing, this ‘skyglow’ interferes with ecosystems by disrupting plant...
Helen Baldwin (Project Co-Lead)
While poverty in Thailand has decreased from 67% in 1986 to 13% in 2012, 6.7 million people were still living within 20% of the poverty line in 2014. Economic uncertainty caused by recurring droughts and decreasing agricultural prices puts this vulnerable part of the population...
Kane Cook
The Ohio River provides the 13-state region of the Ohio River Valley with economic and social benefits through power generation, industrial manufacturing, drinking water, and recreational uses. While the river is an important environmental and economic resource, the valley is prone to numerous flood events...
India Young
The project team partnered with the Regional Climate Services Director (RCSD) for the Pacific Region under NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) to analyze near-real time (i.e., weekly) spatial and temporal patterns and trends in sea-surface height (SSH) around the US Affiliated Pacific Islands...
Ryan Theurer
Colombia contains a variety of endemic species, making it one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Due to a recent peace treaty between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government, Colombia's rainforest has become more vulnerable to illegal deforestation...
Jessica Li
As a largely snowmelt-fed watershed, Utah's Fremont River Basin provides year-round irrigation for approximately 16,000 acres of agricultural areas, including historic orchards and pastures maintained by Capitol Reef National Park (CARE). However, forecasts for seasonal water availability within the basin based on in situ snowpack...
Margaret Mulhern
The Fremont River in Utah provides water for wildlife, riparian habitats, and irrigation for approximately 16,000 acres of agricultural lands, which includes the historic orchards and pastures maintained by Capitol Reef National Park. Annual snowmelt is recognized as the primary water source within the Fremont...
Katie Lange
Midwest Water Resource (Fall 2021)
Team: Emma Myrick (Project Lead), Erica Barth-Naftilan, Erin Shives, and Alec Solberg
Summary: Evapotranspiration (ET) is a climatic variable critical to the hydrologic cycle and is used to evaluate spatiotemporal trends in drought conditions. Although in-situ observations provide accurate ET information, these records...