Funding has been approved, and I can now begin the process of hiring a MS student to join me beginning in Fall 2024! I'm excited to welcome a new member of the lab to Springfield in the coming months! Here are some highlights of the role:
Candidates must have applied to the UIS MS program in ENS, been accepted, and completed their applicant file no later than March 15 for consideration. There may be a second round of a search in June if a qualified candidate is not identified for the March 15 deadline. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me ([email protected]).
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Evaluating the Impacts of Urban Configuration on Heat and Water Transfer using ENVI-met Microclimate SimulationsI recently received an internal grant from UIS: the Competitive Scholarly Research Grant! This grant will allow me to pursue additional work towards understanding the biophysical transport of heat and water in urban areas, evaluate the use of urban microclimate models, and simulate changes to urban configuration on heat and water transfer processes.
As a part of this project, I will be hiring one or two hourly student workers. This/these student(s) will:
Pay will be hourly ($13/hour), and I anticipate supporting students working approximately 10 hours/week beginning in Summer or Fall 2023 through Spring 2024; however, I am willing to work with students to accommodate their schedules, including increasing hours over the summer and reducing hours during the summer. Priority will be given to undergraduate students. For now, please contact me via email ([email protected]) and indicate your particular interest in the project and any relevant experience you might have (experience is not necessary for consideration). I will provide updates once the positions are created and/or filled. I began a new adventure and position as an Assistant Profess of Ecohydrology at the University of Illinois Springfield in August 2022. Due to the hectic nature of beginning a new position, teaching three courses my first semester, getting settled in a new location, and starting a lab, I have not been diligent about posting smaller updates. However, I have now caught up and updated this website (as of March 29, 2023), and will aim to do a better job of maintaining this site.
This semester, I've had the opportunity to learn about science communication and public engagement through the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) Science Communication Fellowship. During the program, we were able to develop hands-on activities to discuss research with the general public at OMSI events. Garett Pignotti, the other postdoc in my lab, and I developed this setup to explore the dynamics of heat, water, and cooling in cities. Yesterday, we got to test our demos. I'm looking forward to having discussions with OMSI visitors soon about interactions between land cover, heat, and water in the built environment! The final chapter of my PhD dissertation has officially been published in Landscape and Urban Planning! This study evaluates the influence of landscape change in the form of infill development on outdoor water demand in Denver. The paper is available open access here. Please feel free to reach out with any questions. Blount, K., R. Abdi, C.L. Panos, N.K. Ajami, and T.S. Hogue (2021). Building to conserve: Quantifying the outdoor water savings of residential redevelopment in Denver, Colorado. Landscape and Urban Planning, 214, doi: j.landurbplan.2021.104178. Since I last posted, I've been quite busy, including moving from Colorado to Washington state! In an effort to catch up, here are several of the activities I've been involved in over the last few months:
And finally, here are some pictures from the unusually large snowstorm we had in Southwest Washington earlier this month. I'm excited to share that my profile has been added to the 500 Queer Scientists website!
I decided to contribute my story because I truly believe that visibility matters. I remember wondering during my undergrad if I could pursue a career as a professor because there were no openly queer faculty to serve as role models. I felt this way despite having a plethora of privilege (white, cisgender man, who grew up upper-middle class, and is not disabled). I know that these feelings are intensified for those who hold other and/or intersectional minoritized identities. I hope that in some small way, my participation provides encouragement to young LGBTQ+ scientists that they are welcome in the academy. Academic environments and universities have a long way to go, but together we can and will work hard to ensure that they continually become more inclusive and equitable. My profile can be found here: https://500queerscientists.com/kyle-blount/ Today was my first day as a postdoctoral research associate at Washington State University Vancouver! I'm working with Dr. Kevan Moffett on her NSF CAREER grant, focusing on urban ecohydrology (water-heat-vegetation interactions) as well as some post-fire and urban greening and equity. I'm excited to dig into research and get involved in the community! Though I will be beginning my time from Colorado due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I look forward to exploring the Vancouver/Portland area soon! # GoVanCoogs #GoCoogs (Note: WSU gear courtesy of my supportive, over-the-top family) Happy to share that my case study with Dr. Adrianne Kroepsch on collaborative governance for watershed management after the High Park wildfire in Fort Collins, Colorado, was selected as a runner-up for Case Study in the Environment's 2019 Outstanding Case Studies Prize! The announcement can be found here: https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/51139/case-studies-in-the-environment-announces-winners-of-2019-prize-competition/ The article remains freely accessible from CSE through 2020 and includes the article case, teaching notes, and a sample slide deck! The classroom-focused case is appropriate for natural resource management, environmental policy and politics, hydrology, and environmental science courses. The content is targeted towards undergraduate students and can be tailored to lower- or upper-division/graduate courses based on the selection of learning objectives and depth of analysis presented and required of students. Please feel free to use the case in your classrooms, and please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding the case or feedback after classroom implementation! Blount, K. and A. Kroepsch (2019). Improving the Resilience of Water Resources after Wildfire through Collaborative Watershed Management: A Case Study from Colorado. Case Studies in the Environment. doi: 10.1525/cse.2019.sc.960306. On June 17, 2020, I successfully defended my PhD Dissertation and completed all requirements to receive my PhD! If you were unable to attend, I have posted the public seminar portion to YouTube, linked below. |