Integrative Graduate Education & Research Traineeship

I am a Law, Management and Policy PhD student at the University of Idaho with a research emphasis on identifying ways to involve children in sustainability practices. I also have an interest in sustainable use of ethnosignificant plants as my previous research focused on conservation and sustainable practices of Lophophora williamsii, (medicinal peyote) in North America. As an IGERT Fellow, I look forward to the interdisciplinary integration and incorporating science and engineering with law, management and policy as it applies to the sustainable use of natural resources. 

I am interested in understanding how humans are mitigating their effects on the landscape and ecosystems and the effectiveness of these actions. My research focuses on river restoration monitoring in the Columbia River Basin. I aim to quantify restoration effects in terms of geomorphic changes, habitat improvement for aquatic species and biological effects such as changes in fish populations. I hope that my research will assist in understanding the processes that link specific human actions to their physical and biological consequences.

Ecologists have long been fascinated by connections in the web of life, particularly where they cross boundaries such as those from forest to grassland, land to water or marine to freshwater. In the Pacific Northwest, long-distant migratory fish link distant oceans with small spawning streams. I study how and when flows of energy and organic matter from these fish enter ecosystems, are incorporated in stream food webs, and how understanding these resources may inform the conservation of endangered juvenile salmon.

Throughout my research, I will be drawing upon my B.Sc. degree in Economics and Agriculture, University of Wisconsin - Madison and M.Sc. in Water Security and International Development, University of East Anglia in England. While I will be taking a more quantitative approach through applied statistical analysis as it relates to agricultural water demand, I am excited to work with other IGERT students and draw from a diverse wealth of knowledge to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the various issues affecting the Columbia River Basin watershed in the advent of climate change and a growing population. 

I am interested in the impacts of climate change and population dynamics on water management in the Western United States, with a focus on the Columbia River Basin. My research is focused on finding practical approaches to community-based watershed management through improvements to data resolution, information platforms, and communication exchange between experts and non-experts. I draw from several disciplines, including hydrology and political science and employ tools such as remote sensing and social network analysis.

My research interests are focused on further research and study of water resource management as an unifying factor that creates a balance between water available, people, people’s needs and the environment. Within the realm of water resource science and management, I am extremely interested in expanding my disciplinary knowledge to better understanding how environmental changes have and will continue to directly affect the quantity and quality of our water resources.

My research interests include forest ecology, ecohydrology, climatology, dendrochronology, and STEM education and outreach. My research incorporates my two main passions, forest ecology and environmental education. I am investigating the relationship between tree-growth and stream-flow to help inform future forest hydrology scenarios. Moreover, I will apply dendrochronology techniques to differentiate forest responses to silviculture scenarios, and formulate resilient forestry practices in northern Idaho. Finally, I plan to identify the most effective methods to educate the general public about sensitive subjects such as climate change, water conservation and land stewardship.

My work is focused on the physical and ecological processes occurring in aquatic and riparian ecosystems. Specifically, I am interested in quantifying the current conditions of these ecosystems and how they have changed over time at broad spatial scales, then identifying where and how restoration and conservation actions may be most effective using geospatial tools. Additionally, I am interested in the role beaver have played in development of riparian systems and their potential role in restoration.

The rural west, rural Idaho in particular, is my home. Many of its smallest communities are facing challenges in water and wastewater provision due to: declining economic strength and population, shrinking federal funding and local tax revenues, inflation, aging infrastructure, and tightening effluent and water quality standards — driven by discoveries of harms caused by trace contaminants. To avoid radical fee increases or even bankruptcy, emergent technologies might be leveraged, but social, regulatory and technological barriers exist. These barriers are the foci of my research.

My previous degrees are in cultural studies and global environmental politics. In my research, I draw from the theoretical perspectives of critical social theory, political ecology, and science and technology studies to better understand the politics of natural resources and land use change. I am particularly interested in the communication of science to management how ecological restoration of watersheds can become adaptive and resilient in the face of climate change.

In traveling the vast open landscape of the West, I could not help but be drawn toward the management of critical waterways. Through my research I plan on shedding light on the ever-changing value of the Columbia to the people of the Northwest. I aim to employ a methodology of ecosystem services to create a holistic understanding of the economic flow of the watershed. By better understanding how we value the transboundary Columbia, I hope to be able to uncover some of the social fabric that makes up the waters of the West.

Time spent in the mountains of Idaho and New Zealand has fueled my interest in the physical processes at work in alpine environments. These areas are typically sparsely monitored but provide important services including water storage in snowpack. I am specifically interested in understanding the interactions between climate and snowpack, how this relationship varies with major modes of climate variability, and how it may evolve with continued climate change.

My doctoral research will center on understanding how vegetation in mountainous headwaters mediates the transfer of water between the atmosphere and ground, and how these relationships are affected by climate change. These dynamics have significant impacts on the timing and quantity of water yield, and understanding them is critical for wise watershed management. Being embedded in the interdisciplinary IGERT allows me to maximize the relevance of my research for social and legal elements of watershed management.

I have cared for fisheries all my life growing up as a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (salmon people) and have learned the importance of Indigenous Science as a Oglala Lakota (bison people) on my mother’s side. My continued involvement is interested in broad ideas about science, fisheries and people interactions. Developing tools as a scientist with a rich cultural background has many unexplored facets that are very curious to me. I think the creativity of first peoples has much to lend to the future of science, fisheries, management and leadership.  

I ask myself how scientists should engage with the people. Water resource and climate change issues are particularly poignant for people in the Northwest, and I am interested in the communication of science with diverse groups outside of academia. My background in environmental education led me to explore the interface of science communication and science education through water resource issues. I am interested in connecting local and global classrooms with researchers through an online platform to improve socio-ecological systems issues adaptation. Through this research I aim to benefit both the culture of academic research and the connection of local and global communities to researchers.

I am interested in understanding the related effects of climate change and land management on headwaters ecosystem services, specifically snow melt dynamics and water timing/availability for downstream stakeholders and habitats. I aim to draw on my experience in river restoration, aquatic ecology, and hydrology to contribute to the production of user-friendly tools that water managers can use to assess system vulnerability and adaptation scenarios. My research will employ geospatial tools, modeling and informatics. I am also keen to modify technologies for use in experiential science education and restoration project design.

I am a PhD student at the University of Idaho’s Water Resources Program in the Science and Management track. Through my undergraduate education and professional experience in water resource management, I have gained a diverse background within this field and was drawn to this program’s interdisciplinary focus. I am particularly interested in studying water resource management within indigenous communities in order to further adaptive solutions towards sustaining cultural identity and solving complex water resource issues.

I am a PhD student for the track for law, policy and management in the interdisciplinary water program because I believe specialized knowledge in different disciplines must be integrated if we are to effectively address water resource issues and improve community and ecologic resilience in the future. My principle interest is public engagement in water issues. I will be studying social and policy network analyses to learn how people interact to become involved in conservation and governance. This is important in understanding the feedbacks among ecologic drivers, sciences, and policy and perhaps it can help to form more effective resource governance. 

Riveraine is an interdisciplinary environmental professional with education and experience in engineering and social science. Raine’s research is heavily influenced by political ecology and cognitive science. Her primary emphasis is on approaching adaptation to complex hydrosocial challenges through deepening understandings of the interconnectedness among socio-cultural, political, economic and environmental drivers. Raine is particularly interested in pluralistic, holistic and systemic thinking/ways of knowing, especially based on non-western cosmovisions (i.e., Indigenous, East/South Asian). As a transgender person, she also applies a Trans*/Queer Ecologies lens to explore enclosure, boundaries and nature as bodies; binary/dualistic thinking; and the patriarchal, heteronormative, technocratic and anthropocentric institutions that continue to govern and manage natural resources. Raine’s dissertation work integrates Buddhist Systems Methodologies and Trans* Ecologies toward developing meaningful, equitable and flexible adaptation strategies for climate change and globalization, through a case study of smallholder farming in Chile.

My research interests focus on an ecosystem based approach to scientific understanding and associated management decisions. My dissertation will have three primary chapters including a legal analysis of overarching statutory and case law authorities, several ecological studies surrounding the feasibility of fish passage at Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams and a large scale educational initiative which will mimic the historic salmonid riverine and oceanic migration.

My master's research focused on the participation of women in water resource management in central Kenya. Coupled with an undergraduate degree in wildlife biology, this additional social science lens allows me to more holistically understand and work to solve water complexities. I aim to integrate ecology, hydrology and anthropology as part of the IGERT team based in the Columbia River Basin. I’m interested in developing a deeper understanding of the relationship between climate change, and human health and adaptive behaviors. More specifically, looking at the perceptions of environmental changes and the responding adaptive behaviors of Native American tribal members and communities. This information will be compared with biophysical parameters that may include snowmelt, flow rates and river temperatures taken over time and seasonally, upstream and downstream of communities. I plan to use mixed-methods data collection, modeling and community-based participatory mapping.

I am a PhD student on the Science and Management track in the Water Resource program because it offered the interdisciplinary training needed to solve complex water issues. I am an aquatic ecologist with interests in community ecology, restoration and management strategies in novel ecosystems. For my dissertation, I plan on researching the effects of surrounding land use on community interactions and life history patterns. By understanding these interactions, better management strategies can be created and implemented to preserve threatened and endangered systems.