Sustainability Leadership Fellowship Cohort: 2015-2016

Ph.D. Student, Department of Atmospheric Science

Research Summary: Severe, prolonged droughts are predicted to occur more frequently due to global climate change. Droughts cause a variety of economic, social and environmental stresses. My research uses an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates both meteorological and ecological data into a computer model to see how well this model can predict the impacts of drought on the productivity (plant growth) of grasslands and crops in the U.S. Great Plains.   The effects of drought on plants and soils directly impact human and wildlife populations; therefore, the results from this study could be used by ranchers and farmers to help with future droughts.