MS Ecology (2017). Utah State University Department, of Watershed Sciences. Logan, Utah.
BS Wildlife Science. Minors - Geographic Information Science (GIS), and Fisheries Science. Utah State University, Department of Wildland Resources. Logan, Utah
Currently I am a graduate student at Utah State University where I study the hydrologic effects of dam-building beaver. Previously, I received a Bachelor's of Science degree from Utah State University, majoring in Wildlife Science. My road toward becoming a natural scientist started at a young age as I had the opportunity to work on the family farm and ranch in sourthern Utah. Learning to work with and care for livestock, crops, and land taught me to respect the natural world around me and ask questions about its form and function. To date, my education and work has covered many topics, from wildlife and fisheries science to morphodynamics and computer programming. When I'm not working I enjoy being outside hiking, fishing, hunting, and working with family.
I have a wide variety of research interests. In the past I have worked on projects with aspen, fish communities, waterfowl, large ungulates, and morphodynamics. Creating usable information informing better management of natural resources is of paramount importance to me. My main interests lie with spatial data. With the wealth of scientific knowledge we have gained in recent decades I find it of great importance to synthesize this information into models that can easily analyze and display expected future conditions at various spatial scales, under different scenarios. Creating such models helps us synthesize previous research and integrate knowledge across disciplines, as we pursue the goal of trying to replicate reality. Though our models will never provide exact representations I believe they play an important role in science as they identify areas lacking in research and allow us to test our understanding of the natural environment. Open source GIS and programming resources provide an effective means of applying and interpolating various geographic data and observations to larger scales via spatial modeling. I am also interested in using computer resources to create open source tools that can be disseminated to natural resource managers to aid in their preservation, conservation, and restoration efforts