An Alaskan since 1998, I attended Alaska Pacific University and graduated with a B.S. in environmental science in the summer of 2003. An Anchorage resident since 1999, field work and adventure has kept me moving around the state during the summer, ultimately landing me here in Fairbanks working towards a Masters Degree in Biology in 2005 (always with my trusty little handsome man, Cowboy, along).

I have worked in both Denali State and National Parks in various lodges, and in Valdez, Whittier, and Prince William Sound for the Department of Fish and Wildlife as a Research Technician. Since attending UAF, my main research focus has been on pre and post fire vegetation recovery at the community level in black spruce forests.

The main objective of this research is to determine how fire severity and site moisture affects the density, species composition, and functional properties of black spruce forests in interior Alaska. I propose to address this in two ways; by comparing the species composition of sites pre/post fire, and by looking at the changes in functional diversity for each site. Pre-fire vegetation composition and soil characteristics collected across a broad range of black spruce forest types will be used in conjunction with burn severity, post-fire plant community composition and site moisture data to address changes in community composition.

A functional survey of flora pre / post fire in interior Alaska black spruce forests in regards to two aspects of functional types; response types (tolerance, disturbance response), and effect types (flammability, formation of permafrost, nitrogen fixation) will be conducted in an effort to determine the effects of fire on the functional diversity of black spruce forests.