My overarching research aim is to improve understanding of the hydrologic cycle in mountainous areas and how it interacts with climate and vegetation. I am fascinated by this area because relative to lowlands, mountain catchments produce larger contributions to regional water resources but are less well understood and monitored. My specific focus is on seasonal snow processes. I am working (1) to understand how data scarcity in mountain meteorology clouds (pun intended) our understanding of snowpack processes (models), and (2) to develop new approaches for measuring (in the field) and estimating (via models in the lab) hydrologic processes and water storage. With my free time, I like to bake, brew beer, bike, hike, backpack, travel, and of course, hit the slopes for winter powder.

Legos are to blame. As a kid, building things with Legos was my favorite activity. It helped shape my logic and creativity and put me on the path for a career in civil engineering. So naturally I was convinced that I wanted to design bridges and buildings when I was selecting my major in college. However, by graduation, I had gravitated away from structures and towards hydrology, another sub-discipline under civil engineering’s umbrella, because of the unescapable importance of water to life. I went on to work as an engineer, where I designed infrastructure for storm water, drinking water, and roadways. Despite having a good job and decent salary, I was unsettled and missed being in an academic environment, so I took a risk and ran off to graduate school. It was there that I discovered the excitement of research and working at the frontiers of knowledge. I have been fortunate to have had ample support and opportunities to research hydrology during graduate school and now as a postdoc. Because of my path, I pursue research as both engineer and scientist, with one eye on the practical and the other on the theoretical, with one foot in the field and other in the lab.