Sustainability Leadership Fellow Cohort: 2021-2022

Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Chemistry

Research Summary: Due to climate change, modern fire regimes are characterized by more frequent, higher severity fires that occur over a longer burning season. My research focuses on the impacts of such fires on forest soils and watersheds. I am exploring three questions through this research: How does fire temperature and severity impact soil health? How do high severity fires effect water quality? How long after fire does it take for soil to return to pre-burn conditions? Understanding these effects will help us develop targeted forest management strategies that minimize the negative effects of forest fires on soil health and water quality.