Graduate Students

Diane Abendroth I am a Master's student in Forestry with an emphasis on fire. My other life is as a fire effects monitor at Grand Teton National Park and the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming, where I study the changes in vegetation and fuels following prescribed burns, mechanical thinning projects, and wildland fires. I am particularly interested in mapping the extent of burns and the "mosaic" of severity within their perimeters. I will be conducting research on burn severity and regrowth in fires going back to the 70's using satellite imagery, with the idea that patterns will emerge which can be used to predict post-fire succession and fuels accumulation.

Gabriela Bucini is a PhD student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. Her scientific research combines large-scale data and statistical models to study the ecological interactions of climate and perturbation factors with savanna vegetation. She also maintains interests in satellite remote sensing. Advisor: Niall Hanan.

Greg Buis NSF GK12 Fellow in the GDPE. He works with Alan Knapp on a study of the interaction of fire and grazing on productivity in South Africa and Kansas. Greg earned a BA in Anthropology from Brown U. He worked nationally in ranching, forestry, tourism, education, and fire. His international work in Ecuador and Mexico includes agriculture, education, and rural development.

Shauna Burnsilver

Micheal Chang

Maosi Chen

Tracy Davern Enrolled in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at Colorado State University. Currently working on projects involving the potential distribution of tamarisk in the Western United States at multiple scales. Advisor: Tom Stohlgren and Robin Reich

Heidi Erickson I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, but have spent the majority of the last 6 years in Colorado/Wyoming. My Bachelor's degree is in Wildlife Conservation Biology from Arizona State.I have been a wildlife technician for various agencies and in various parts of the U.S. for the past 12 years. Fall 2007 will be my first semester as a Master’s degree student in GDPE and I will be studying the ecosystem effects of prescribed fire and grazing timing in a high elevation sagebrush system.

Jessica Ernakovich I am working under Dr. Matt Wallenstein to develop methods for the use of proteomics in environmental analysis. This work will be applied to global change experiments as well as to natural systems. I am interested in alpine and arctic microbial communities, and hope to apply proteomics to those ecosystems.

Karen Galles

Michelle Haddix is a Master’s student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. Her research focuses on soil carbon dynamics and the sensitivity of soil organic matter to temperature change. Advisor: Rich Conant.

Melannie Hartman Melannie is a PhD candidate in GDPE, and has been a Research Associate at NREL since 1993. Her interests are modeling the effects of atmospheric deposition on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and determining critcal loads. Her advisors are Dr. Jill Baron and Dr. William Parton.

Kathy Herbener

Khishigbayar Jamiyansharav is a PhD student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. She is working on climate change study in Mongolia. Her advisor is Dr.Dennis S.Ojima and co-advisor is Dr.Roger A.Pielke Sr.

Eli Knapp I am a 27-year-old, happily married GDPE student embarking on an audacious voyage across the tempestous seas of human ecology. Having spent the last two years in Tanzania, I have an avid interest in East Africa, birds, words, art, and kayaking.

Stacy Lynn is a PhD student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. Her dissertation bridges the biological and social aspects of ecology to perform a GIS-based integrated assessment of land use change impacts (primarily increasing agriculture) on Maasai pastoral livelihoods, migratory wildlife dispersal and pastoral livestock management. She spent a total of 17 months in Tanzania compiling data for her dissertation from 2002-2004, and is now practicing the juggling act of motherhood (son Aidan was born in 11/04, daughter Talia was born in 9/06) and completing her dissertation. Stacy also completed her MS degree, entitled "Conservation policy and local ecology: Effects on Maasai land use patterns and human welfare in northern Tanzania", at NREL in December 2000 (MS Advisor: Jim Ellis). PhD Advisor: Mike Coughenour.

Sarah Maisonneuve I am a PhD student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. I am studying human-elephant conflict around Ruaha National Park, in Tanzania. My research examines the social as well as ecological implications of this conflict, and ultimately aims to predict it spatially, as resources which are shared by both species, namely water, become more limiting in this system. My advisor is Dr. Mike Coughenour.

Nate Mellor

DeAna Nasseth Ph.D. Candidate in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology and the Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship. My research examines the interactions of landscape structure with land-use change and development, from urban infills to the wildland-urban interface, and their implications for ecological integrity and land-use planning in the Pikes Peak Region, Colorado. My Ph.D. advisors are Debra Peters and Michael Coughenour, with committee members Melinda Laituri, John Wiens, Tom Hobbs, and David Theobald. I earned my M.S. degree in Environmental Biology from Baylor University, where I studied the effects of hiking trails on tree radial growth in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness (Frederick R. Gehlbach, advisor). I received my B.S. degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University. As a graduate student, I have mentored undergraduate ecology students and taught labs in ecology, comparative vertebrate anatomy, and general biology. I also have worked in medical laboratory research, forestry fieldwork, and wildland firefighting. My volunteer endeavors include environmental education and interpretive roles and positions on natural resource management and educational advisory boards in the Pikes Peak region. I would like to express my appreciation for receiving an NREL Graduate Student Scholarship.

Gabe Olchin PhD candidate in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, under the advisement of Keith Paustian. His research focuses on modeling soil organic carbon dynamics creating a new model with functionally defined pools that includes potential SOC saturation parameters and explicitly includes aggregate dynamics. He is also finishing research from an incubation study from the dryland agricultural experiment station in Sterling, CO. Committee members include Johan Six, William Parton, Stephen Ogle, and Eugene Kelly.

William Smith I am a graduate student within the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology (GDPE) working towards my Masters degree. I received my Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics at Western Carolina University in Silva, NC. Currently, my major advisor is Dr. Wei Gao, a research scientist III and director of the USDA UV-B Monitoring and Research Program, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL). I am primarily interested in understanding atmospheric effects on plant-soil science and the application of numerical modeling. When I am not working I enjoy fly-fishing, hiking, camping, sand volleyball, basketball, and almost any intramural sport. I am very happy to be at Colorado State University!

Shannon Spencer I am a PhD student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology working with Drs. Stephen Ogle and Keith Paustian. My interest is in applying remote sensing to ecological problems and applications. I am investigating the uncertainty in agricultural soil carbon estimates using a MODIS-driven crop production model coupled to the CENTURY Ecosystem model. I have a M.S. in Natural Resources, Forestry (1996) from the University of New Hampshire and a B.S. in Natural Resources, Forestry Management (1993) from the University of Florida. From 1996-2002, I was a Research Scientist at UNH's Complex Systems Research Center where I had the opportunity to work on a variety of global change, forest decline, and science education outreach projects. From 2002-2004, I worked as a Biological Scientist for the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission helping to develop a Florida-wide Plant Community Monitoring Program to support Objective-based Vegetation Management on Commission-operated lands. I came to Colorado in June, 2004 to work for the GLOBE Program, an international science and education outreach program. In August, 2005 I accepted the PhD opportunity at NREL, which is allowing me to advance my understanding and career in ecology and global change.

Jessica Steinweg is a doctoral student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology (GDPE) at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory. She completed her BS in Biology/Ecology at Appalachian State University in 2005 and her MS in Ecology at CSU in 2007. Her current research involves determining the response of soil microbial communities to climate change. Advisor: Rich Conant

Jonathan Straube Graduated from Colorado State University in 91 with a BS in Computer Science. A systems administrator with the Natrual Resource Ecology Laboratory and working on a Master Degree in Applied Ecosystems Modeling through GDPE.