Interested in Joining the lab?
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
I will be on sabbatical during the 2023/24 Academic Year, so I am not taking on any graduate students or undergraduates during the 2023/2024 Academic Year. If you are a graduate student interested in beginning in Fall 2024, please send me an email with a CV or resume, research interests, and a writing sample.
I will be on sabbatical during the 2023/24 Academic Year, so I am not taking on any graduate students or undergraduates during the 2023/2024 Academic Year. If you are a graduate student interested in beginning in Fall 2024, please send me an email with a CV or resume, research interests, and a writing sample.
Trekking near Bariloche, Patagonia
Kerry Byrne (PI)
When Kerry isn't teaching and helping students with research projects, she enjoys being outdoors with her husband, daughters, and border collie, Zea mays. She loves backpacking, trail running, and cooking tasty new dishes in her spare time. Two recent adventures were hiking the John Muir trail (solo) in 2014 and backpacking the Walker's Haute Route in France and Switzerland in 2016. Since then, her adventure has mostly been working full time while raising two young children during the pandemic.
Current Graduate Students
Francisco Chavez joined the lab in June 2021, after graduating from HSU with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Management with an emphasis in Ecological Restoration and a minor in Botany. He managed to complete his 4-year degree right after high school in 3 years!
As a graduate student, he is monitoring the recovery of sagebrush steppe plant communities after a 4-year experimental drought and determining if a legacy effect is evident within the communities. This project requires that he looks at different components of the plant communities, such as aboveground and belowground biomass, seed bank composition, and species composition. His research will help contribute to areas of sciences that do not receive a lot of research attention.
During his free time, Francisco enjoys baking with his roommates, playing video games with his friends, and zoning out on long runs while listening to his favorite songs.
As a graduate student, he is monitoring the recovery of sagebrush steppe plant communities after a 4-year experimental drought and determining if a legacy effect is evident within the communities. This project requires that he looks at different components of the plant communities, such as aboveground and belowground biomass, seed bank composition, and species composition. His research will help contribute to areas of sciences that do not receive a lot of research attention.
During his free time, Francisco enjoys baking with his roommates, playing video games with his friends, and zoning out on long runs while listening to his favorite songs.
Graduate Student Alumni
Jules Bartley, M.S. '23
Jules successfully defended their thesis "Physical characteristics and fine roots within duff mounds of old-growth sugar and Jeffrey pine in a fire-excluded Sierran mixed-conifer forest" in summer 2023 and currently works for the Forest Service FIA Program in Washington.
Allison Nunes, M.S. '21
Allison successfully defended her thesis "Seed bank composition within two sagebrush steppe communities: a comparison of drought and microsite effects" in summer 2021 and currently works as an Associate Ecologist for Jodi McGraw Consulting.
Sean Stewart, M.S. '23
Sean successfully defended his thesis "Insights into the conservation of the rare perennial herb, Astragalus applegatei" in spring 2023 and is currently applying for jobs and working on publishing his thesis.
Jules successfully defended their thesis "Physical characteristics and fine roots within duff mounds of old-growth sugar and Jeffrey pine in a fire-excluded Sierran mixed-conifer forest" in summer 2023 and currently works for the Forest Service FIA Program in Washington.
Allison Nunes, M.S. '21
Allison successfully defended her thesis "Seed bank composition within two sagebrush steppe communities: a comparison of drought and microsite effects" in summer 2021 and currently works as an Associate Ecologist for Jodi McGraw Consulting.
Sean Stewart, M.S. '23
Sean successfully defended his thesis "Insights into the conservation of the rare perennial herb, Astragalus applegatei" in spring 2023 and is currently applying for jobs and working on publishing his thesis.
Undergraduate Researchers
Current
- Owen Bardsley and Skylar Johnson - paid internships with the BLM Arcata office (May 2023 - present)
- Dellaina Morse and Scott Estepa - herbicide impacts on soil seed bank (2022 - 2023)
- Kloe Walter and Scott Estepa - paid internships with the BLM Arcata office (2022 - 2023)
- AJ Murphy and Owen Bardsley - drought recovery of sagebrush (2022)
- Theron Taylor and Kayla Thompson - fine root biomass in mineral soil beneath duff mounds in old growth pines (2022)
- Cristina Winters - fine root biomass in duff mounds and mineral soil of old growth pines (2021 - 2022)
- Jade Dodley and Shannon Rocha - fine root biomass in duff mounts of old growth pines (2022)
- Sarah Aguiar - phenology of California poppies (2021)
- Sam Kelly and Cessair McKinney - estimating sagebrush seeds using a photography app (2020 - 2021) read their open access publication in March 2022 Ecological Restoration!
- Ethan Reibsome and Beth Rouse - drought impacts on sagebrush (2019)
- Sean Stewart and Erik Ramos - seed bank germination study along a restoration gradient at Lanphere Dunes (2019 - 2020)
- Corina Godoy and Jonathan Vellanoweth - germination trials of Astragalus applegatei (2018 - 2019)
- Roxana Mostafavi and Stephanie Bowler - drought impacts on sagebrush (2017 - 2018)
- Nathan Connell and Allison Young (OIT students) - germination trials of Astragalus applegatei (2016 -2017)
- Chloe Smith, Aaron Miller, and Morgaine Riggins (OIT students) - population monitoring of Astragalus applegatei (2016)
- Taylor Mays (OIT student) - population monitoring of Limnanthes floccosa ssp. bellingeriana (2016)
- Rizka Ongge (OIT student) - pollination study of Astragalus applegatei (2014 - 2015)