I am an NSF Graduate Research Fellow at the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine. I graduated from Bowdoin College in 2010 with a BA in Geology and received my MS in Quaternary and Climate Studies in 2016 (also from UMaine). The Climate Change Institute is deeply dedicated to interdisciplinary science, which has allowed me to pursue my interests in understanding how humans have interacted with and changed their landscapes through time. In light of the dramatic changes we are predicted to experience, it is increasingly important to understand changes we have undergone in the past in order to better prepare for the future.
I grew up in Montana, which is where I fell in love with all things natural. I am an avid outdoorswoman and try to incorporate that into all aspects of my life, including my research. I love to whitewater kayak, telemark ski, mountaineer, backpack, canoe, raft, etc. I have spent many summers leading extended wilderness trips for teenagers and hope that my passion and love for the outdoors has been passed on to the students on my trips. I have tried to carry this same mentality to my work as a researcher. To me, being a scientist also comes with the responsibility of reaching out to the community at large, inspiring kids who may never have envisioned themselves pursing higher education, and teaching future generations about the importance of scientific research, all the while, showing them that it can also be an amazing adventure. I have been dedicated to this mission through my outreach work with the up and coming Follow A Researcher program. For more information on that, check out my Outreach page. I am increasingly excited about developing my skills as a photographer and documentarian in the field. I find that it is much easier to engage a broader audience with cutting edge scientific research through the use of stunning visuals that document the process that we go through before the papers are published. By engaging the general public we can begin to break down some of the barriers that make it difficult for scientific knowledge to reach a much larger audience, not only making our work more effective, but more fun as well. |