Developing indicators of land use and water use in the Colorado River Basin

Comparison of post-fire erosion and sedimentation near Rangely, CO using repeat, UAV-derived SfM digital elevation models and output from the Watershed Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) disturbed model.

Dissertation Research: Training Convolutional Neural Networks for automated segmentation of sandbars in dataset of over 1 million images. Measured erosional and depositional patterns of subaerial sandbars in response to sub-annual discharge patterns from Glen Canyon Dam, on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National ParkMasters Research: Conducted non-market economic valuation of ecosystems services lost in the 2010 Schultz fire. Utilized a hedonic property model to measure the effect of watershed services loss on housing prices near Flagstaff Arizona. Conducted nation-wide Willingness -to-pay survey to determine non-market value of springs in Grand Canyon National Park.Other: Acquired and processed UAV-based SfM point-clouds for measuring forest canopy cover. Collected terrestrial LiDAR data to measure post-fire changes in channel morphology. Conducted NRCS snow courses. Desert springs surveys. Measured changes in the effects of artificial lighting on dark skies in Northern Arizona using Google Earth Engine. Topographic surveys of sub-aerial sandbars using a Total Station. Assisted in acoustic bat monitoring. Mule-deer monitoring on the Kaibab plateau using large array of game cameras.

Teaching introductory environmental science labs to undergraduates in non-science majors.

Small mammal trapping and vegetation monitoring in support of efforts to monitoring the Endangered New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse.

Surveyed long-term vegetation monitoring plots. Assessed tree mortality, litter depth, and burn severity for areas burned by wildfires in 2015. Skills utilized; plant identification, measuring tree heights with a hypsometer, estimating sources of tree mortality, burn severity, wilderness navigation, data entry, and data collection.

Assisted in the long-term monitoring of areas burned by wildfires in Glacier National Park. This work involves using GIS to create maps, hiking to remote plots and surveying the vegetation, measuring the fuel loading, data entry, measuring fuel moisture in woody and herbaceous vegetation, and navigating with a handheld GPS unit. In addition to my primary job duties, I assisted in prescribed burning and in wildfire suppression as part of the Glacier National Park Fire Management Team. Served as the incident commander on two type-5 wildfires.

Worked in the greenhouse facility at Tahoma woods. Activities included; sanitizing, sorting, and cleaning pots, transplanting seedlings, applying herbicides, mowing with a diesel tractor, fertilizing plants, and using Greenshield (a fungicide) to sanitize equipment. The second part of our season involved identifying native plants along the roadside and in subalpine meadows. Activities included; plant identification with a taxonomic key, seed collection, revegetation. Supervising volunteer crews in meadow revegetation.

Assisted in the preparation and prescribed burning of over 8000 acres, for hazardous fuel reduction, and habitat management for the endangered Red-cockaded Wood Pecker (RCW). Used hand tools; rouge, shovel, McLeod, and pulaski. Collected fire weather with belt weather kit and kestrel. Conducted interior ignition on forest units using a drip torch. Assisted in post-burn surveys measuring scorch height and evaluating burn effectiveness. Participated in after action reviews. Application of herbicides to invasive exotics (wisteria) cutting vines and applying stump treatment. Assisted in RCW monitoring, using telescoping cameras to inspect RCW cavity trees for nest construction, eggs, and new hatchlings.

I set up 60 long-term uplands monitoring plots. I used handheld GPS units in addition to a topographic map and compass to navigate to randomized points within the backcountry of Chihuahuan Desert park units; Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Fort Davis National Historic Site, White Sands National Monument, and Big Bend National Park. We navigated through rough terrain and harsh weather carrying an excess of 50lbs worth of gear. Once data points were reached a 20 by 50 meter plot was set up with 20 meter transects every 10 meters along the 50 meter tape. Vegetation was identified for ground, herbaceous, sub-canopy and canopy layers every .5 meters. Soil stability data was gathered, along with plot descriptions, parent rock material, bulk density, erosion features, and biological crust cover. Pictures and bearings were taken at each corner and rebar with tags was put in place. Data was entered to Chihuahuan Desert Network sharepoint using Microsoft Access and a GIS layer of the GPSed plot location was created. Unknown plants were collected, pressed, and identified.