Graduate Student Researchers
Backpacker turned budding data nerd, Andrew spent the last 5 years doing international and domestic conservation work. He ran an eco-hospitality program in India, was a camping guide in outback Australia, managed a nature reserve in Ecuador, and completed two AmeriCorps terms with a conservation corps in Arizona. His field experience taught him two things in particular - small organizations need data expertise in order to realize their conservation goals, and that sometimes the most effective way to conserve the environment is to financially quantify it. He enrolled in the Bren School to pursue environmental economics to learn the skills to address these needs.
Sarah graduated from the University of Michigan in 2015 with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. While at the University of Michigan, she participated in biological field work concerning Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ boat launches and crayfish habitat fragmentation due to culverts. Additionally, she joined Dr. Duhaime’s team to develop a methodology of quantifying microplastics in the Great Lakes. Sarah found her love for freshwater ecosystems while wading in the streams of Northern Michigan. Her passion for freshwater led her to the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, where she is studying Water Resource Management with a focus in Conservation Planning. In the future, Sarah hopes to take scientific understand and translate it into on the ground change.
Naomi graduated from McGill University in 2014 with a B.S. in Environmental Biology and minors in wildlife biology and applied ecology. While at McGill, Naomi completed an undergraduate thesis in Dr. Murray Humphries’ lab examining time and energy budgeting in American red squirrels in the Southwest Yukon. After graduating from McGill in 2014, Naomi moved to the Yukon for 6 months where she worked as the head field technician on the Kluane Red Squirrel Project, a long-term ecological project examining population dynamics and ecology in the boreal forest. Naomi is now pursuing a Master’s of Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School, where she is focusing her studies on conservation planning. Naomi’s scientific inspiration has come from her travels and speaking to wildlife managers and native peoples in Northern Canada, South Africa and Australia.
Michael graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Environmental Studies in 2010. He is an alumni of two AmeriCorps programs, and has an interdisciplinary background which includes conservation fieldwork, environmental education, water quality monitoring, and fisheries biology. Prior to Bren, he worked for two years with the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, studying the health of salmon and trout in freshwater ecosystems. He is specializing in Conservation Planning at the Bren School. Michael find his inspiration in the outdoors, and enjoys backpacking, rock climbing, and surfing.
Team Advisors
Ian McCullough
Ian McCullough is a PhD candidate at the Bren School, advised by Frank Davis. Ian's research interests include biogeography, climate change and conservation. His dissertation research focuses on the effects of climate change on the health and distribution of California's mountain forests. Ian is originally from the East Coast and enjoys running, hiking, sports and humor.
Naomi Tague
Christina Tague's research is focused on the interactions between hydrology and ecosystem processes. Much of her work involves developing and using spatial simulation models to integrate data from multiple field-based monitoring studies in order to generalize results to larger watersheds. Reflecting that emphasis, she is one of the principal developers of the Regional Hydro-Ecologic Simulation System (RHESSys), an integrated model of spatially distributed carbon, water, and nitrogen cycling. RHESSys is designed to provide science-based information about spatial patterns of ecosystem health and vulnerability in terms of water quantity and quality. Professor Tague is currently modeling the impacts of climate change on stream-flow patterns in the western United States and examining how urbanization alters drainage patterns and associated biogeochemical cycling in watersheds in Baltimore, Maryland, and Southern California.