Meet our alumni!
Featured
Assistant Professor at Cornell University
Dr. Gerson is a biogeochemist who studies the interactions of mercury, sulfur, selenium, and carbon in environments from mining regions to agricultural fields. This work is important because it illuminates how land use change and human activity affect the mobilization of trace elements toxic to wildlife and people. She was a postdoctoral scholar with the EBG, working on a USDA-funded study to determine the interactions between agricultural S applications and methylmercury production.
Undergraduate Research Assistant, UROP Fellow
Korie worked on a variety of projects in the EBG before graduating from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2024. She is particularly interested in using science to inform social justice movements, sustainable food systems, and education. She's an East Bay native, volleyball champion of the world, and a maniac on the dance floor.
Honors thesis student, UROP Fellow
Bhawana spent time with the EBG studying interactions of nutrient cycling and aquatic community composition in reservoirs. Her project, in collaboration with the City of Boulder, will help to inform how to manage healthy water quality for surrounding communities. Outside of research, she likes to bike, read, learn new languages, and play basketball. Bhawana graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2024.
Undergraduate Research Assistant, UROP Fellow
Mia worked on a variety of research projects in the EBG, and continues her interest in studying soil chemistry/biogeochemistry within agricultural systems. She graduated from the Department of Environmental Studies in 2024.
Research Assistant at University of Colorado, Anshutz Campus
Rachel worked and assisted with several EBG projects while also discovering new interests in different areas of environmental research as a recent graduate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at CU Boulder. She is a Southern Colorado Native passionate about using the tools and knowledge developed through research to conserve the beautiful ecosystems she's grown up around. She now works full-time in a medical research laboratory.
Dorothy & Thomas Jegla Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, Kenyon College
Dr. Heindel was a Postdoctoral Scholar with the EBG from 2017-2019. She led a project quantifying atmospheric dust deposition and exploring its geochemical composition in the Colorado Front Range. Her research demonstrated that enrichment of metals and other elements sourced from the Boulder-Denver Metropolitan area is deposited every year in alpine ecosystems.
Senior Watershed Scientist, Northern Water
Dr. Hermes completed her Ph.D. with Dr. Hinckley in 2021. Her research examined the unique elemental and isotopic fingerprint of agricultural sulfur in California croplands. Dr. Hermes’ project found that both inorganic sulfate and organic sulfur have unique chemical signatures, providing a way forward for testing the consequences of agricultural sulfur applications in crop soils and adjacent ecosystems.
Assistant Professor of Biology, Roger William University
Dr. Singley completed his M.S. in 2017 and Ph.D. in 2021 co-advised by Dr. Hinckley and Dr. Michael Gooseff (Environmental Engineering). His research illuminated the role of the hyporheic zone in storing and processing nitrogen within the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, as well as a range of ecosystems - from agricultural lands to subalpine forests. This is an important finding, particularly for understanding controls on nitrogen availability in low-N ecosystems.
Research Faculty, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Dr. Chen was a visiting Ph.D. student with Dr. Hinckley from 2016-2018. During that time, he conducted a study of the physical controls on soil nitrogen cycling at Niwot Ridge LTER. He demonstrated that different vegetation patches in the landscape are microbially-active at distinct periods throughout the growing season, and that the majority of the landscape - dry meadow communities - are active for the shortest period, early after snowmelt. Dr. Chen’s research has been important for understanding where nitrogen might be stored or transported within the alpine landscape.
Wildfire Mitigation Specialist, Wildfire Research (WiRē) Center
Dr. Forrester is a former EBG CommUNITY member who completed her Ph.D. with Dr. William Bowman (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) in 2021. Dr. Forrester’s research cut across ecology (the effects of climate and topographical variability on phenology), education (anxiety and coding in STEM classrooms), and engaged scholarship (the use and usability of science by decision-makers). With EBG, she partnered with California vineyard managers to conduct a study showing the relationships among air temperature, microtopography, and wine grape phenology. Her research showed the potential for winegrowers to design their vineyards to mitigate the effects of rising air temperatures.
Biological Research Assistant, Wetland Science, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA
Molly graduated in 2021 with a M.S. degree, working with Dr. Hinckley. Her project quantified carbon and sulfur pools across different alpine and subalpine wetlands. Molly’s research pointed to the potential (different!) roles that these ecosystems play in metabolizing and storing elements in the alpine to the subalpine zones.
Biologist with the USGS Southwest Biological Science Center - Moab, Utah
Cara completed her M.S. co-advised by Dr. Hinckley and Dr. Kathryn Snell (Geological Sciences) in 2017. Cara studied how carbon stable isotopes within soils can be used to discern past controls on soil formation and vegetation.
Page was an undergraduate research assistant, UROP fellow, and completed an independent study with Dr. Hinckley. She graduated in 2021. With a passion for data curation and public reporting, Page developed a suite of tools to support the EBG sharing data on the Environmental Data Initiative (EDI) portal.
Artist
Janey Le was a research assistant with the EBG while completing her undergraduate degree at CU in Environmental Studies. Janey worked on a number of projects, in particular, learning and training others on the methods for extracting resins from The National Geographic Remote Regions Observatory Network project.
Research Assistant, U.S. Geological Survey, Lakewood, CO
Michelle was a research assistant, UROP fellow, and honors thesis student with the EBG. Michelle’s honors thesis examined the effects of management practices and Tall Oatgrass invasion on soil nitrogen cycling in Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) Lands. She found that Tall Oatgrass, a widespread invasive species in the Colorado Front Range, produces significantly more thatch (litter) than native plants regardless of management practices, prompting changes in decomposition and soil moisture levels. This research was important for informing management of Tall Oatgrass by Boulder OSMP going forward.
Head of Sales, GoGuide
Phillip completed his undergraduate honors thesis with Dr. Hinckley in 2022. His research examined the movement of methylmercury in aquatic food webs of the Green Lakes Valley lake chain (Colorado). Phillip found that fish accumulate methylmercury, a neurotoxin, in excess of their food sources, and that fish in lakes proximal to glacial melt water had higher levels of methylmercury. Phillip’s research has been important for guiding our studies of the controls on mercury cycling and its movement into food webs of the alpine ecosystem.