About Me
I am currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois- Springfield, where I joined the faculty in Fall 2022. My appointment is in the Environmental Studies Program within the School of Integrated Sciences, Sustainability, and Public Health in the College of Health, Science, and Technology. My current work focuses on understanding the interactions between water, heat, and vegetation at various scales in cities with a goal of informing sustainable and equitable redevelopment. I also work on post-fire hydrology and equitable urban systems. For more information on my research, please visit my Research page. I teach courses that focus on water resources, physical environmental sciences, and environmental research methods. For more information on my teaching activities, please visit my Teaching page.
Prior to joining UIS, I completed a postdoctoral research appointment in urban ecohydrology at Washington State University in Vancouver, Washington in Dr. Kevan Moffett's lab. I completed my PhD in Hydrology at Colorado School of Mines in summer 2020 (and my M.S. in Hydrology in May of 2018, also at CSM) in the Hydrologic Science and Engineering program with Dr. Terri Hogue. My PhD research focused on assessing the impacts of disturbances, including wildfire and urban development, on hydrology and water resource management in water scare regions to improve our understanding of these complex systems and provide policy-relevant guidance for urban development.
Before returning to graduate school, I worked as a tutor in Denver, Colorado and a GIS technician at a Groundwater Conservation District in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area. As a tutor, I taught ACT and SAT test prep courses, created student and teacher materials, and provided individual subject matter tutoring. As a GIS technician, I developed a geospatial database and created internal data standards and processes for all groundwater well and water quality data, assisted with responses to public data requests, and facilitated public outreach and education about water conservation.
I received my B.S. in Environmental Geosciences (Water Theme) from Texas A&M University, with minors in Geoinformatics and Psychology. I grew up in Austin, Texas. When I'm not working, I enjoy spending time with my dog, Gus (pictured below), working out and participating in outdoor recreation, or visiting coffee shops and breweries.