Sustainability Leadership Fellow Cohort: 2025-2026

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Atmospheric Science and Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL)

Research Summary: I study how wildfires impact water quality and aquatic ecosystems. During my PhD, I collected downstream water and biological samples following the 2021 Marshall Fire, integrating ecology, chemistry, and hydrology to understand post-fire effects. Now as a postdoctoral researcher, I work with an interdisciplinary team studying how wildfire smoke affects high-altitude lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park and other protected areas. My research examines how fires alter nutrients, metals, and ecological parameters in these sensitive water bodies. This work provides important insights as wildfire frequency and intensity are increasing across the Western US.