People

Meet our current lab members:

Image of Katherine in front of some plants

Katherine Siegel (Assistant professor)

Pronouns: she/her

  

   

   katherine.j.siegel@colorado.edu

I am an assistant professor in the Geography Department, a Fellow in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, and an affiliate of the Environmental Data Science Innovation & Inclusion lab. My research interests include impacts of wildfires on social-ecological systems in the western US, the effects and effectiveness of climate change adaptation strategies, and equitable, climate-informed conservation. I hold a PhD from University of California-Berkeley, and I was previously an assistant professor at University of Toronto and a NOAA Climate & Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow. Outside of work, I find joy in hiking, botanical gardens, hosting potlucks, and finding a new favorite book at the library.

 

 

 

Headshot of Silvia, with plants behind her

Silvia Olvera Hernandez (Postdoctoral scholar)

  

   silvia.olverahernandez [at] colorado.edu

I am a Mexican woman and (I was a) first-generation student working as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Geography department at the University of Colorado-麻豆影院. I have a PhD from the University of Leeds, and a Master from El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR). My educational background is rooted in interdisciplinary sciences, combining ideas from the humanities, environmental, and social sciences to understand issues related to human-nonhuman relationships.
 
My work focuses on building communication bridges among local people, Indigenous communities, non-profits and government agencies to ensure fair environmental decisions. This has motivated me to explore diverse methods and frameworks that can be used in decision-making processes. Currently, I am working on a project that focuses on how the Resist-Accept-Direct framework can be used at the landscape scale to manage wildfire impacts on ecosystems (ecological transformations) in the Greater Yellowstone area. Outside of work, I like to go out and have a glass of wine/beer and see all the chisme on the street.

 

 

 

Image of Danyan in front of some plants

Danyan Leng (PhD student)

Pronouns: she/her

  

    danyan.leng [at] colorado.edu

   

I am a PhD student in the Geography Department. My research focuses on biodiversity conservation and human-environment interactions. For my PhD, I鈥檓 particularly interested in integrating diverse and mixed methods to bridge the disparities between large-scale conservation management plan and local practices.

I received my B.S. from the University of Washington and M.E.M. from Yale University. My previous research projects span studying human-wildlife coexistence, fisheries and marine conservation policy, and global biodiversity monitoring.

In my free time, I love collecting magnets, and I am also a big fan of cozy video games, pixel arts, and lo-fi music.