Crystal Kolden, Ph.D.

My background includes over a decade of employment with the US Forest Service (including time as a wildland firefighter) and the US Geological Survey, so my research focuses on science applications and technology transfer for public policy makers and land use managers. I primarily work in the western US and Alaska.

My current work focuses on monitoring and measurement of landscape-scale ecological change through remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems-based pattern analysis. I am primarily interested in large-scale abiotic and disturbance factors such as wildfire, invasive species, and climate change.

I contextualize my work in the realm of public policy development and applied land management, and work closely with colleagues in both areas to develop integrated management strategies and policies that incorporate the best-available science. Some examples of this include:

1. Assessing the impacts of climate change on fuel treatment effectiveness in Southern California shrublands and forests to reduce wildfire risk;

2. Defining trends in wildfire burn severity from satellite data as a product of climate change versus human influences in order to develop proactive land management and wildfire suppression strategies;

3. Mapping disturbances in near-shore watersheds to determine impacts on sea otter habitat;

4. Assessing the use of climate information to proactively redevelop national wildfire policy and reduce the changing risks associated with wildfire over the next century; and

5. Developing use guides and best management practices for users of national geospatial datasets derived from remotely sensed data.

Full CV