Fellows

GK-12 Fellows for 2011-2012

Fellow: Meilani Bowman-Kamaha'o

Research Area: Structural Geology and Metamorphic Petrology

Research Interests: Meilani's current research involves documenting deformation patterns in mid-crustal rocks exposed as a metamorphic dome in the Himalayan Mountains of NW India. There are two primary goals of her research: first, to test a current model that explains mid-crustal processes of the Indian-Eurasian plate collision and subsequent mountain building and second, to determine the mechanism by which Gianbul Dome was formed and emplaced at the surface.

Website:

Email: mbowman@geology.cwu.edu

Fellow: Jessica Giblin

Department: Geography

Research Area: Water Quality and Treatment

Research Interests: Jessica is interested in agricultural waste water and the artificial wetlands that are built in order to treat this problem on farms. She is looking at natural and sustainable waste water treatments that do not require artificial aeration. Specifically, she plans to research the technique of reed bed filtration systems used in Northern Ireland for small scale sewage treatment which results in a clean effluent.

Website:

Email: giblinj@cwu.edu

Fellow: Sara Healas

Department: Biological Sciences

Research Area: Herpetology, Freeze Tolerance

Research Interests: Sara's primary research interest is in freeze tolerance as an overwintering strategy of the Pacific Chorus frog (Pseudacris regilla). Specifically, she is looking at populations of Pacific Chorus frogs from the Mill Creek, WA area, the Snoqualmie Pass, WA area and Crooked River, OR area to look at variation of freeze tolerance within populations of the same species that come from different environments and altitudes.

Website:

Email: healass@cwu.edu

Fellow: Jonathan Hegna

Department:

Research Area: Ecosystem based management, stream ecology, population dynamics, and fisheries biology

Research Interests: Jonathan's research interests range from studying general ecology to evolutionary biology. He has conducted research in a number of different places from the high alpine meadows of Austria to the intertidal zones of South Florida. At CWU his research is being done in cooperation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife with the Yakima Beaver Relocation Project. His research is primarily aimed at studying the impacts of beavers on their surrounding environment. The current goal of his present research is to evaluate the usage of temporary lodges that are constructed for relocated beavers at their release sites. The hope is that beavers will utilize the artificial lodges to reduce the high mortality rate experienced by relocated beavers. Additionally, a number of habitat variables are being assessed to determine habitat features that reduce beaver emigration out of selected release areas. Future research sponsored by Northwest Marine Technology will focus on investigating the movements of fish in relationship to beaver dams. An important goal will be to compare differential movement capabilities of different species of fish, including invasive species.

Website:

Email: jonathanhegna@gmail.com

Fellow: Renee Holt

Department: Geological Sciences

Research Area: Hydrogeology, Geochemistry

Research Interests: Renee is using water chemistry to assess the ground water flow regime in upper Kittitas County, WA. She is interested in water chemistry that results from water-rock interaction and the ways that this chemistry can be used to assess movement and storage of ground water in the subsurface. Her broader interests include water resource assessment and water contamination remediation. After completing her master’s degree she hopes to work as a hydrogeologist.

Website:

Email: reneeholt1@gmail.com

Fellow: Eric Inions

Department: Biological Sciences

Research Area: Plant Biochemistry

Research Interests: Eric is attempting to increase production of an anti-malarial compound, artemisinin, found in the plant Artemisia annua. He is doing this by stressing the plant in various ways: UV-B, drought, herbivory, etc. High Performance Liquid Chromatography will be done in order to test artemisinin production. His goal is to come up with simple stress techniques that can be done in the field to increase potency for people who are at risk for malaria.

Website:

Email: inionsj@cwu.edu

Fellow: Kelsey Johnson

Department: Geography

Research Area: Cultural Geography/Cultural Anthropology

Research Interests: Kelsey is a second-year student in the Resource Management program. Her research interests include sense of place, river restoration and salmon. Using the Elwha River Restoration on the Olympic Peninsula as a case study, Kelsey is exploring the relationships between people and their environment, and how these relationships influence changes to the landscape.

Website:

Email: johnsoke@cwu.edu

Fellow: Andy Menking

Department: Geological Sciences

Research Area: Change, Glaciochemistry, Black Carbon, Atmospheric Aerosols

Research Interests: Andy is interested in determining black carbon concentrations in liquid samples from glacier ice and the seasonal snowpack. Currently the focus of his research is to determine optimal sample storage and analysis procedures for the Single Particle Soot Photometer. He is also busy setting up a Thermal Optical Analyzer, which will make it possible to compare the black carbon analysis between the two instruments.

Website:

Email: menkingj@cwu.edu

GK-12 Fellows for 2010-2011

Fellow: Tiffany Bishop

Department: Geography

Research Area:

Research Interests:

Website:

Email: BishopTi@cwu.edu

Fellow: Dale Jansons

Department: Biological Sciences

Research Area:

Research Interests:

Website:

Email: Jansons@cwu.edu

Fellow: Matt Jenkins

Department: Geological Sciences

Research Area:

Research Interests:

Website:

Email: Jenkins.m.g.@gmail.com

Fellow: Amber Palmeri-Miles

Department: Biological Sciences

Research Area: Herpetology

Research Interests: Amber’s research interests include ecology, conservation, overwintering, and movement patterns of amphibians. She is currently engaged in the second year of a multi-year study involving the seasonal movement patterns and overwintering of Western Toads (Bufo boreas) near Snoqualmie Pass, WA. Amber hopes her research will assist the designers of the animal crossing structures for the Interstate 90 expansion project at Snoqualmie Pass in making decisions that are relevant to Western Toad movement with respect to the highway. Recently Amber was published in the 2010 autumn issue of Northwest Naturalist as the primary author of a manuscript entitled “Field Observations of Oviposition and Early Development of Coastal Tailed Frogs (Ascaphus truei)."

Website:

Email: PalmeriA@cwu.edu

Fellow: Melissa Reitz

Department: Biological Sciences

Research Area: Herpetology,Wildlife Conservation and Management

Research Interests: Melissa’s research interests include ecology, wildlife management, and conservation biology with a special concentration in endangered species. Melissa is currently investigating the effects of Western Pond Turtle hatchling size in hopes to expedite the recovery of this State Endangered species. She is looking at maternal investment as well as environmental influences on hatchling size. She has previously researched federally threatened and endangered species such as: Green Sea Turtles, Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles, Olive Ridley Sea Turtles, Hawksbill Sea Turtles, Sonoran Pronghorns, Virgin River Spinedace, Virgin River Woundfin, Spotted Frogs, Boreal Toads, Sage Grouse, Desert Tortoises, and Gila Monsters. Other non-threatened species she has studied include: American Pronghorn, White-tail Deer, and Mule Deer. She hopes to continue in a career devoted to wildlife research, conservation of diversity, and habitat restoration.

Website:

Email: ReitzM@cwu.edu

Fellow: Sara Rosario

Department: Chemistry

Research Area:

Research Interests:

Website:

Email: RosarioS@cwu.edu

Fellow: Jamie Sheahan

Department: Geography

Research Area:

Research Interests:

Website:

Email: SheahanJ@cwu.edu

Fellow: Tabitha Trosper

Department: Geological Sciences

Research Area: Fluvial Geomorphology and Geoarchaeology

Research Interests: Tabitha’s primary research interest is in the reconstruction of paleoenvironments at archaeological sites. Previous research has taken her to archaeological sites in central Mexico and now, for her thesis research, along the Snake River in lower Hells Canyon, Idaho. At Redbird Beach archaeological site (in lower Hells Canyon), she is reconstructing the Snake River paleoflood record and timing of prehistoric occupational patterns of the site.

Website:

Email: TrosperTa@cwu.edu

GK-12 Fellows for 2009-2010

Fellow: Erin Dilworth

Department: Geography

Research Area: Estuary Science and Management

Research Interests: Erin is interested in estuarine function, management, and restoration. Specifically, Erin hopes to research geoduck (Panopea abrupta) harvest in the South Puget Sound. She plans to use shoreline inventory data and social attitude surveys to investigate potential harvest sites.

Website:

Email: DilwortE@cwu.edu

Fellow: Holly Eagleston

Department: Geography

Research Area: Climate Change and Wetlands

Research Interests: Holly's research interests involve looking at climate change effects such as timing of snowmelt and deglaciation and their impact on mountain wetlands. She plans to study how changes in the health of the mountain wetlands with climate change may affect downstream water resources and how we manage those waters.

Website:

Email: EaglestH@cwu.edu

Fellow: Terry Helland

Department: Chemistry

Research Area: Chemistry

Research Interests: Terry's research involves the study of technology in Chemistry Education. His intent is to develop a method for evaluating the benefit technology provides to students in their understanding of chemistry content.

Website:

Email: HellandJrT@cwu.edu

Fellow: Jennifer Lannoye

Department: Biological Sciences

Research Area: Plant Ecology

Research Interests: Jen's research interests involve the effects of wildfire on vegetation communities. She is specifically interested in better understanding how to restore and rehabilitate riparian areas after wildfire in the shrub steppe. She plans to design a research project which will increase knowledge about plant recruitment in these ecosystems after disturbance.

Website:

Email: LannoyeJ@cwu.edu

Fellow: Jack Lester

Department: Biological Sciences

Research Area:

Research Interests: Jack's primary research interests are in amphibian phylogeophraphy, life history, physiology, evolution, and distribution with respect to human ecology. He has studied amphibians in China, Uganda, Nepal, and the United States. He is also interested in and has conducted primate field research with both tibetan macaques and chimpanzees. Jack's master's thesis is focused on climate change and the geographic range expansion of the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae, by comparing physiological variation in temperature response across their range. The results of this research will help to further understanding about this pest species and contribute to their management.

Website:

Email: LesterJ@cwu.edu

Fellow: Michelle Lester

Department: Biological Sciences

Research Area:

Research Interests: Michelle's research interests are in ecology and conservation biology and she is particularly interested in amphibians. Michelle is currently investigating Western toads and roads as a barrier to their seasonal movements through the environment. She is also interested in the habitat characterization of currently used movement corridors for the purpose of modeling of roadway crossing structures to accommodate and recruit amphibians. Landscape scale connectivity and long term survival of local amphibian species is the focus of her graduate research.

Website:

Email: LesterM@cwu.edu

Fellow: Christopher Markley

Department: Geological Sciences

Research Area: Landslide Analysis

Research Interests: Chris is currently interested in fluvial geomorphology and paleoenvironments. Past research dealt mainly with wind blown sediments, and has taken him to California and Germany.

Website:

Email: MarkleCh@cwu.edu

Fellow: Sarah Nagorsen

Department: Geological Sciences

Research Area: Active Tectonics

Research Interests: Sarah's research involves geologic mapping and fault movement (slip rates and slip transfer) in the Eastern California Shear Zone. Her thesis work focuses on the Adobe Hills, California where Pliocene volcanism, Pacific-North America plate motion, and Basin and Range extension drive fault slip. She is also interested in watersheds--how urbanization and storm water runoff impacts diurnal water temperature fluctuations.

Website:

Email: NagorseS@cwu.edu

GK-12 Fellows for 2008-2009

Fellow: April Barreca

Department: Biological Sciences

Research Area: Herpetology

Research Interests: April's research interests involve overwintering and seasonal microhabitat selection of Rana cascadae (Cascade frogs). In broader terms, she is interested in amphibian adaptation to extreme conditions including arid and temperate habitats, and investigating factors that influence amphibian declines.

Website:

Email: BarrecaA@cwu.edu

Fellow: Susan Brady

Department: Biological Sciences

Research Area: Herpetology

Research Interests: Susan’s research interests are in herpetology and amphibian disease and decline. She is particularly interested in the challenges that amphibian embryos must overcome during development. Susan is interested in investigating the interactions between different strains of Saprolegnia, a fungus-like organism that infects both salmonid and amphibian eggs. She is also interested in the identification and role that symbiotic algae play in development and survival of local amphibian species.

Website:

Email: BelmontS@cwu.edu

Fellow: Brittany Best

Department: Chemistry

Research Area:

Research Interests: Brittany's research interest is in the development of materials that could potentially be used for water purification/filtration and water disinfection. This will require a broad range of analysis including UV-vis, FTIR, and possibly HPLC and Fluorescence, and will interface the fields of physical chemistry, analytical chemistry, and material science. The ultimate goal is to produce a stable material that has commercial and industrial application in removing organics and pharmaceuticals from water.

Website:

Email: BestB@cwu.edu

Fellow: Christopher Hilferty

Department: Geography

Research Area: GIS, Water Quality

Research Interests: Christopher's research interests focus on water quality assessment, hydrology, GIS, and GIS modeling. Christopher's thesis research will assess of non-point source pollution on small coastal watersheds around the Puget Sound, which will also include GIS modeling in order to help assess water quality trends across time and space.

Website:

Email: HilfertC@cwu.edu

Fellow: Amanda Ketsdever

Department: Geography

Research Area: Geomorphology

Research Interests: Amanda is interested in geomorphology, glaciology, and paleoenvironments. She also enjoys conducting soil studies and environment interpretation.

Website:

Email: KetsdevA@cwu.edu

Fellow: James Lamperth

Department: Biological Sciences

Research Area: Ichthyology

Research Interests: Jamie is broadly interested in salmon, trout, and char fish species ecology, biology, and conservation. Research themes he finds most interesting are salmonid population response to both disturbed and restored habitat, juvenile salmonid stream microhabitat distribution, and the effects of hatchery-reared anadromous stocks to survival rates and productivity of wild/natural populations.

Website:

Email: LampertJ@cwu.edu

Fellow: Clayton Larkins

Department: Geological Sciences

Research Area: Carbon Efflux and Climate Change

Research Interests: Clayton's research interests focus on oxygen isotope ratio of soil carbon dioxide efflux across a climate gradient in the northeaster Cascade mountains. He plans to use mass balance equations to model how carbon dioxide source influences carbon dioxide concentrations in terrestrial soil, which help predict how soil as a carbon sink will be influenced by climate change.

Website:

Email: LarkinsC@cwu.edu

Fellow: Caitlin Orem

Department: Geological Sciences

Research Area: Fluvial Geomorphology

Research Interests: Caitlin is interested in fluvial geomorphology, geochronology, and climate change. Rivers play a role in her academic and personal interests. Caitlin enjoys studying geological and environmental changes in rivers over the geologic time scale. Thesis research will focus on studying remnants of lava dams and subsequent lake deposits on the Owyhee River in southeast Oregon.

Website:

Email: OremC@cwu.edu