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In the summer of 2021 I journeyed to the place that I had been dreaming of since my early childhood — when I first learned how ice melts. I watched active volcanoes, retreating glaciers, and peculiar mountains go by my window in a dynamic landscape taking new form every few seconds. The sun was a distant memory or shed its light sudden and rampant. I had never experienced such undisturbed earth as a visitor of its boundaries, subject to its every change.

My camera unfortunately broke on the first day of the Landmannalaugar hike, so a majority of these were taken on my phone — including the video of the glacier on my home page. 

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ICELAND 2021

FOREST
RESILIENCE LAB

I worked in a forest resilience lab to better understand and analyze Western US fire perimeter data, utilizing various climate metrics and CBI (composite burn index). Within the lab, I acquired, processed, and edited the source data from WA DNR, NIFC, and CA FRAP using ArcGIS Pro. The first objective was to standardize and correct the perimeter data to create a database of synthesized fire perimeters. I exported the product to Google Earth Engine, applied some code, and created a map that generated CBI. 

I am most eager about my current project within the lab, as I am working on a story map of select fires in the Sierra Nevada — including Camp Fire (2018), California's most destructive wildfire. I'll be looking at the history of fires in the area, mapping how fire intensity and frequency change with time. I will expand my research to incorporate climate data and other relevant spatial metrics, as well as analyze the vulnerability of marginalized communities to future wildfires. 

FUTURE WORK?

I would love to expand my skills in remote sensing and GIS and continue developing my research interests in new projects and labs. I am really passionate about climate change — specifically in the discipline of atmospheric science — and I want to learn as much as I can in a setting where I can ask a ton of questions and gain a close understanding of different methodologies. Traveling to Iceland in the summer of 2021 was rewarding in many ways, but it made one fact abundantly clear to me: I want to work to protect the planet, studying its complex systems, researching questions, and communicating findings for all communities, I want to emphasize the necessity of environmental justice and hone smart storytelling to intertwine science & art. 
 

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