After 3 years as a Software Engineer in Boston, I decided that I needed to focus my programming skills on building tools to solve problems that I actually care about.  So, I became interested in how my background in Computer Science could be applied to research in Forest Science.   Now I am working with Warren Cohen to improve the TimeSync application. My graduate research will focus on combining Landsat and MODIS imagery to use plant phenology as an indicator for growth trajectories of early successional forests in disturbed stands.  Oregon attracted me because it offers everything that I need: good beer, deep snow, big mountains, and some of the best concrete skateparks in the country.  With that said, I enjoy spending my time riding BMX, snowboarding, traveling, going on adventures, and simply having outside.

Dissertation working title: Using phenology as an indicator for growth trajectories of early successional forests in disturbed stands

I come from a background in environmental science and wildlife ecology with a strong desire to help protect and conserve the natural world we live in. I decided that in order to make the biggest impact on the world around me, I should take my field of interest from the species level to the landscape level. After I discovered the world of spatial ecology and GIS and how they could be used to solve ecological problems, I was hooked. I jumped head first into the world of remote sensing starting with an internship as a TimeSync interpreter with Warren Cohen in LARSE working on FIA and NAFD projects. As Warren's master’s student, my research is focused on detailed classification of wetlands disturbance and land use change in the Willamette Valley from the 1970s until now using Landsat time series imagery. In addition to loss of wetlands in the last 40 years I’m also interested in classifying and capturing how much wetland space we’ve gained through restoration projects and the functional differences between natural and restored wetlands.

Thesis working title:Using Dense Landsat Time Series Imagery to Monitor and Analyze Wetland and Land Use Change in the Willamette Valley of Oregon from 1972-2012

Dissertation working title: Multi-scale interactions of insect and wildfire disturbance: Synthesis of field, aerial, and satellite observations across Oregon and Washington forests since 1984

I joined the LARSE lab in the fall of 2011 as a PhD student working with Warren Cohen after completing my masters at the University of Idaho. My M.S. research utilized lidar data in the examination of avian species richness and species specific habitat relationships in mixed conifer forests of Idaho. Prior to graduate school, my research experience focused on post-disturbance cavity nester ecology and the relationships between primary and secondary cavity users. In my PhD research, I hope to marry my interests in remotely sensed ecological variables and cavity nester ecology by mapping post-fire forest structure features important to avian cavity-nesting communities. My interests outside of work include hiking, floating rivers, fly fishing, snowboarding, playing the mandolin, and working on whatever crafty project that has my interest that week.