We are now past the midpoint of the Fall semester - it feels like it's flying by! A few things that have been going on:
- Gunner and Ryan joined the lab this semester. Gunner is in Environmental Science and will be studying prescribed fire impacts to seedbanks, linking his two interests in prescribed fire and restoration. Ryan is in the Wildland Mgmt program and will be working on something related to groundwater dependent ecosystems - he comes to the program with a strong background in wetland surveying and botany. A big welcome to the both of them!
- Claire-Marie is gearing up for her thesis defense next Friday! She'll be presenting her results on the impacts of an environmental justice education module on student self-efficacy & they are insightful and powerful.
- Kristen is on sabbatical for the year. She's working on a couple different projects over that time, one of which is a new Cal Fire funded contract investigating effects of prescribed fire in Blue Oak woodlands - this will include botanical responses, above ground carbon, fuels alterations and many more, incorporating the seasonal aspect of the fire as well as the fire return intervals. This is a large collaboration with Eli Goodsell at the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve and Dr. Don Hankins in the Geography dept. This past Sunday she completed all the trainings to earn her red card equivalency - and is super excited to assist on prescribed burns this winter. In addition to this, Kristen will be finishing up her work on dozer lines and writing some manuscripts. She'll be presenting that research at the Association for Fire Ecology Congress next month in Monterey, CA.