field*conditions

I am a biologist.
You can find me in the center of the venn diagram where ecology, conservation and restoration intersect with the socio-economic realities that shape how we interact with & impact the ecosystems around us.

My dissertation research examines the process of desertification. The bulk of this work occurs in the American southwest, but I also spent the summer of 2009 in northern China to learn about desertification in Inner Mongolia. I am funded by the following grants & fellowships:
-National Science Foundation's East Asia Pacific Summer Institute, which seeks to promote international research collaborations between American graduate students and scientists in Asia.
-American Philosophical Society's Lewis & Clark Fund for Exploration
-Ariel Appleton Research Fellowship
-Appleton Whittell Research Ranch Apacheria Fellowship
-Sigma Xi

Newer

Older

what once was lake.

increasing cultivation of the grasslands by local farmers has led to restrictions on the use of surface water for irrigation. instead, the farmers have dug wells and are using groundwater. conditions have been dry the past few years, but the area of cultivated land continues to rise, so the pressure on groundwater resources has been intense. consequently, the level of this lake has fallen dramatically.

basically, the entire foreground of this pic used to be under water. off to the right you can see the dunes that used to mark the shoreline.

Posted on June 29, 2009