…with the Watershed Biogeochemistry Lab @ Colorado College
There are number of projects that I am working on throughout the year – with the majority of opportunities occurring in the summer — please contact me if you are interested in any of the following areas of research. When necessary, I will work with you to apply for internal funding.
I. The Effects of Fire on Forest Carbon Stocks
Number of students: 2-3 | Location: Colorado Springs
During Summer 2019, we will be conducting research in watersheds affected by the severe burns in 2002 (Hayman, Schoonover, Big Fish, Missionary Ridge fires) to follow up on findings from the past few summers. Some of these projects include:
- What is the role of microbial community composition on the retention (or conversely processing) of organic matter? Collaborator: Mike Wilkins, Colorado State University.
2. How is carbon transformed as it is transported from hillslope to stream? What is the fate of particulate and dissolved carbon within the stream? How does severe fire alter the connectivity of the landscape and the quality of carbon transported?
II. Role of hydrologic variability on N processing
Students: 1 | Collaborator: Audrey Sawyer (Ohio State)
Humans add a significant amount of N to the terrestrial landscape yet the majority of it does not reach the coasts. Water moves into and out of the stream through the sediments with the rise and fall of tides, in addition the tidal fluctuation causes the groundwater levels to rise and fall. These hydrologic processes can both remove and add nitrate to the system. We are monitoring hydrologic movement and nitrogen processing within these freshwater tidal zones to determine how these dynamic processes effect the export of nitrogen to the coast.
This summer, students will likely have the opportunity to work with Deon Knights (PhD student at Ohio State) collecting samples in Wax Lake Delta, Louisiana and assist in the analysis of these samples in the lab. For students with strong quantitative skills there is also an opportunity to learn how to model these systems mathematically.
III. Women in STEM
Working with collaborators at a number of institutions I am part of two large projects aimed at improving workplace climate for women in the earth and environmental sciences. At the start of 2019 we will be conducting a large survey of the geoscience community – hoping to get better, field-specific, data on women’s experiences as geoscientists, in particular women with intersectional identities. There will be opportunities for students to work with the ADVANCEGeo team to develop questions and analyze this survey data. 
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