Community-led water resilience in the Los Angeles River Watershed
Council for Watershed Health
Ryanna is supporting the Council for Watershed Health (CWH) in promoting integrated regional watershed management in the greater Los Angeles region. Her projects include supporting Watershed Coordinators with the Safe Clean Water Program, an initiative that captures and cleans stormwater while generating new opportunities for open space preservation. Read more…
Proposing County Payment Reforms that Incentivize Conservation of Public Forestland
Oregon Wild
Shannon is working with Oregon Wild, a non-governmental organization in Oregon dedicated to the conservation of forests and wildlife across the state. She is researching and developing an alternate model for the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) legislation, which has provided payments to historically timber-dependent counties in order to support them as timber harvests decline. Read more…
Enhancing working lands in Colorado Colorado Coalition to Enhance Working Lands / Ground Up Consulting
Darya’s main project is facilitating the Colorado Coalition to Enhance Working Lands (CO-CEWL). CO-CEWL works to improve the resilience and productivity of Colorado farming and ranching lands through the creation of viable agricultural businesses and rural communities, protecting open space, and increasing the ecosystem service benefits of working lands. Read more…
Impact of Variable Grazing Pressure and Climate Change on Big Sagebrush Plant Communities
Associated with rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns are predicted to create novel climates contributing to changes in the distribution of potential vegetation. This is especially true in drylands across the American West, where the annual distribution of precipitation influences water availability, which is directly related to the competitive advantage of grasses or shrubs. Read more…
Perceptions of Water Export in Colorado’s San Luis Valley
Cloe will be spending the summer in Alamosa, Colorado, where she is conducting independently-led research on the San Luis Valley’s response to past and ongoing attempts to export water out of the region. The San Luis Valley is a high alpine desert in southern Colorado known for its long and enduring agricultural tradition and as a top national producer of potatoes. Read more…
Long-term sustainability of wildlife crossing structures for species movements across US highway 93 in Western Montana
Structures that allow wildlife to safely cross highways, including overpasses, landbridges, and wildlife underpasses, are increasingly attracting the attention of organizations that want to minimize wildlife-vehicle collisions and improve road permeability to wildlife movements. Read more…
Impact of global change and land use on biogeochemical dynamics in Southwestern Wyoming
Uthara’s research focuses on the interactive effect of global change scenarios and land use practices on soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in sagebrush ecosystems of the American West. Drylands contain about 20% of the world’s carbon stock, with the majority being held in slow-cycling belowground pools. Read more…
(Green) Infrastructure in Oregon
Lily is a Financial Analyst Intern with the Natural Infrastructure Initiative at the World Resources Institute (WRI). She is researching the relationship between resilient water utilities and environmental health. Read more…
Forest Collaboratives and Habitat Connectivity in the Northern Rockies
Laura is a Conservation Connect Fellow at the National Forest Foundation (NFF) and a U.S. Media and Storytelling Intern at the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y). Based in Missoula, MT, she is coordinating and facilitating forest collaboratives in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Idaho Panhandle National Forests with NFF. Read more…
Impact of land use change policies on carbon sequestration capacity of natural and working lands in the US Climate Alliance western states
The Nature Conservancy
Kyle is working with The Nature Conservancy, North America Natural Climate Solutions Team. He will complete a regional land use planning policy analysis for a group of Western States that are part of the US Climate Alliance (Oregon, Washington, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Colorado). Read more…
Assessing Climate Change Impacts to Waterways Near National Parks in the West
National Parks Conservation Association
Humna worked with the water conservation team at National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) to assess anthropogenic threats to western waterways that run through or close to national parks. Recent policy rollbacks in legacy environmental laws, including the Waters of the United States Rule under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), are threatening the quantity and quality of park waterways. Read more…
Pursuing Better Stewardship and Better Futures: Centering Native American Histories and Perspectives
Reid worked with post-graduate fellows at Yale Forests to create a public reading group centered on Indigenous nations, especially the Nipmuc Nation in the Northeast. The organizers collaborated with Tiana Wilson-Blindman, as well as Meghanlata Gupta of Indigenizing the News, to highlight Native issues told from Native perspectives. Reid and his colleagues published weekly posts that centered on content from Native authors, podcasters, researchers, and storytellers. The posts were published through the Yale Forests Instagram account and through a separate listservcreated specifically for the reading group. Read more…
Simulating the Recovery of Big Sagebrush Communities from Disturbances Due to Oil and Gas Extraction
Damaris’s research focused on the recovery of big sagebrush communities to these disturbed areas. During this fellowship, she will collect data to describe the community composition and soil characteristics at well pads to use as inputs to a simulation model. Read more…
Soil Health and Soil Carbon Sequestration in Regenerative Agriculture
Mad Agriculture, Colorado Collective for Healthy Soils
Darya worked with Mad Agriculture, an organization focusing on regenerative agriculture out of Boulder, Colorado. She assisted the organization with projects in two realms: policy and soil carbon sequestration. Her policy-related work included projects in conjunction with the Colorado Collaborative for Healthy Soils and preparing a grant application aimed to increase farmer engagement with soil health management practices. Read more…
Eco-Sensible Crop Farming in the Northern Great Plains of Montana
Vilicus Farms
Tim worked this summer at Vilicus Farms, a 10,000 acre, organic, dry land (not irrigated) specialty grain and pulse (edible legumes like beans and lentils) farm. A New Haven native and long-time NYC resident, he departed from his city roots to farm in big sky country for the summer to learn first-hand how sustainable, eco-sensible farming can be done at scale. Read more…
Non-Consumptive Water Rights as a Landscape Conservation Tool
Rocky Mountain Biological Lab
Margot’s independent policy analysis investigated the governance structures in Colorado that allowed non-consumptive water rights to be claimed by private entities and how this has impacted the regional landscape. Non-consumptive, or in-stream water rights, ensure that at the location where the rights are claimed, the amount of water will not change in quality or quantity due to upstream uses. Read more…
Soil Texture and Plant Concentration on Oil Well Pad Reclamation Sites in Wyoming
Jon investigated the relationship between soil texture and the concentration of woody plants and perennial bunch grasses on oil well pad reclamation sites in Wyoming’s sagebrush steppe. Soil texture is an important factor in soil water storage, because it affects water movement speed through soil. Read more…
Land Trusts and Water Conservation
Colorado Open Lands
Abbey worked with the nonprofit land trust Colorado Open Lands to learn about private land conservation in the West as a Summer Conservation Fellow. She assisted with conservation and stewardship activities such as monitoring conservation easements from satellite imagery, landowner outreach, and researching innovative methods of water conservation. Read more…
Improving Aquatic Habitat Connectivity in the Snake River Headwaters
Trout Unlimited
Bryce was the Conservation Intern for Trout Unlimited’s Snake River Headwaters Initiative, a project in partnership with Wyoming Game and Fish Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, local governments, and various non-profit organizations. By measuring fish entrainment rates in agricultural diversions from the Snake River and its tributaries, surveying barriers to fish migration, and engaging in other types of field work in the Jackson area, Bryce worked to protect and restore fish habitat in the Snake and Salt River watersheds of Northwestern Wyoming. Read more…
Understanding Community Perceptions of Recreation and Wildlife in Jackson Wyoming
Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative
As Jackson Hole’s visiting population increases exponentially and recreation use continues to climb, Bryce and Bea worked with the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative to investigate how to balance Jackson’s growing recreation habits while preserving its existing ecosystems and wildlife. By conducting interviews with Jackson recreators, the team hoped to gain a greater understanding of the motivators and interests of different recreation communities. Read more…
Investigating the Socioecological Importance of Pinyon Forests for Paiute Communities in the Great Basin
Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony and U.S. Forest Service
Paul’s project investigates socioecological change affecting Paiute communities in California and Nevada. It examines the cultural importance of pinyon forests on lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and focuses on the development of new approaches to forest management that promote Paiute traditional foods and silvicultural practices. The Great Basin is experiencing increasing frequency of destructive fire, invasion by nonnative species, and loss of habitat for native plants and animals. Paiute communities with strong cultural ties to traditional land use practices and foods are impacted by these changes across the region. Read more…
Exploring the Ecological Impacts of Wildfire in Coniferous Forests in Sierra Nevada
Forest Services, Region 5 & the University of California-Davis
Zhi’s ecological research in the central Sierra Nevadas explores the role of wildfire in forest ecosystems. Large, severe fires have been increasing in recent decades and present major economic and ecological challenges in the western United States. Through collaborating with US Forest Service researchers and the University of California-Davis, Zhi leads a team of four to collect floristics and other ecological data in the coniferous forests burnt by the Rim Fire, a fire burning more than 257,000 acres of the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park in August 2013. Read more…
Benthic Macroinvertebrate Survey of Canyon Creek
The Nature Conservancy, Tensleep Preserve
Joshua’s research surveyed benthic macroinvertebrate communities of Canyon Creek at The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Tensleep Preserve in order to (1) assess the current communities of this river section, (2) analyze the impacts of two subterranean limestone sink systems and a human diversion on these communities, and (3) provide data and voucher specimens for future studies. Invertebrates of quantitative subsamples from six sites on the creek have been identified to genus level, and a qualitative voucher collection representing the identified invertebrates has been provided to Trey Davis, manager of Tensleep Preserve. Read more…
The Impact of Surface Water on Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) Movement Patterns
California Department of Fish & Wildlife
Though the relationship between resource selection and animaldistribution has been thoroughly investigated, few studies link animal movement patterns to resource utilization. By examining animal movement proximate to resource utilization, Danielle hopes to understand the degree of prioritization given to obtaining a resource and contribute to this growing field of study. Desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) movement to water in the Mojave Desert comprise her study system. Read more…
Exploring the Interface of Religious Life and Environmental Politics in Montana
Leif is researching independently in northwest Montana where faith-based environmental organizing sets the stage. Three emerging organizations seek to empower religious congregations to take up environmental advocacy — Montana Faith & Environment Coalition, Faith and Climate Action Montana, and Montana Interfaith Power & Light. Through interviews with advocates and faith leaders, Leif is beginning to answer questions about the opportunities and challenges for work at the intersection of religion and environment in the mountain west. Among them: what has been the relationship between religious life and environmental politics and how is that relationship changing over time? What is the status of the ecumenical movement and can the environment be a focus for interfaith work? What kinds of values do religious communities hold regarding their landscape and what language do they use to discuss those values? Read more…
Increasing the Pace and Scale of Conservation in the Tetons through Collaboration
LegacyWorks Group
Shea Flanagan is working with LegacyWorks Group in Jackson, Wyomingto accelerate community-driven impact to advance large-scale conservation efforts in the Teton region. She is assisting the team in executing projects that advance four major goals: 1) increase the ability of local conservation partners to work collaboratively on community- and regional-scale projects, 2) enhance water availability for human and environmental needs in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, 3) protect wildlife migration corridors and winter range for regionally significant species, and 4) expand free-market conservation tools available to local partners. Read more…
Spatiotemporal Patterns in the Observed Spread of Chronic Wasting Disease Across North America
Meghan is conducting independent research that aims to explore spatiotemporal patterns in the historic and ongoing spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) across North America. CWD is an always-fatal neurodegenerative affliction of captive and free-ranging members of the deer family — i.e., mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, and moose — that has increased in both geographic extent and local prevalence since first being detected in the 1960s. More than merely threatening deer populations, CWD also jeopardizes the widespread ecosystems in which deer play important roles, as well as the multiple industries that rely in some way on the secure existence of abundant, healthy deer. Read more…
Governance and Storytelling Along the Colorado River
The Nature Conservancy, Colorado River Program
Lucas is working for The Nature Conservancy’s Colorado River Program(CRP). His focus for the CRP is two-fold: first, Lucas is researching environmental governance and finance models to facilitate the creation of a water fund for the Colorado River delta. This work entails outreach to stakeholders and coordination with existing environmental funds to glean best practices. The second part of Lucas’ work is focused on storytelling along the Colorado River, to highlight conservation success stories and explore where work still needs to be done. Read more…
