Student Research
In support of interdisciplinary student training, the GCSC offers research grants to eligible graduate students. These funds are awarded in support of thesis-related research that broadens a student's disciplinary focus into a new interdisciplinary direction. Grantees present their research at our annual Environment and Sustainability Research Symposium.
Projects that have been supported by GCSC Graduate Student Research grants are listed below.
Funded Student Research Projects
Connor Davis Anthropology
How rural ranching communities manipulate herd management strategies in response to drought in Baja California Sur, Mexico
Austin Green Biology
Assessing the Effectiveness of the Parley’s Summit Wildlife Overpass
Stella Mosher Geography
Fire in the Fynbos: A high-resolution investigation into climate-fire-vegetation-human links over millennia in the hyper biodiverse fynbos biome, South Africa
Kathryn Sokolowski Anthropology
Resolving Pleistocene herbivore dietary ecology in the fynbos biome (Western Cape Province, South Africa)
Xuan (Karen) Zhang Sociology
How Have Economic Growth and Industrial Development Affected the Environment and Population Health in China? A Quantitative Analysis at the Provincial Level from 2001-2018
Derek Halm Philosophy
Investigating Change and Hybridization in Two Utah Toad Species
Dallas Herndon Music
Valley: Three Corners of Our Room; An Interdisciplinary Work for Chamber Choir, Solo Instruments, and Electronics
Tasnim Tarannum Isaba City & Metropolitan Planning
Assessing the Potential Feasibility of Planned Retreat against Emerging Wildfires in the USA: A Case Study of Marshall Wildfire, Colorado
Fiona Summers Environmental Humanities Graduate Program
Indigenizing the Junior Ranger Booklet at Antelope Island State Park in collaboration with the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation
Amy Collins Professional Master of Science & Technology
Understanding the effectiveness and environmental economic considerations of engineered wetlands at Great Salt Lake Shorelands Nature Preserve
Tara Hetz Parks, Recreation & Tourism
A Gateway Community's Journey to Destination Stewardship
Kyle Kittelberger Biology
Tying the Breeding Origin of Migratory Birds During Fall Migration in Utah Amid Ongoing Climatic Changes through Stable Isotope Analyses of Feather Samples
Kaedan O'Brien Anthropology
Reconstructing paleoclimate, seasonality, and ancient migratory systems in the Late Pleistocene of the eastern Lake Victoria Basin, Kenya
Baylee Olds Geology & Geophysics
Landscape, Climate, and Radiation Controls on Net Snow Water Availability
Madelyn Purnell Biology
Adapting to Change: Evolutionary History of Extremophile Nematodes in the Great Salt Lake
Susana Velasquez-Franco Geography
Listening to Las Lagunas: a long-term perspective applied to environmental management in the Equatorial Andes
Meg Wolf Geology & Geophysics
Advancing process understanding of how catchment groundwater storage buffers streamflow during drought
Maria Archibald Environmental Humanities Graduate Program
Learning by Doing: Developing a Collaborative Climate Justice Curriculum for Young Activists
Abby Baka Anthropology
Prey Choice and Technological Investment at North Creek Shelter, UT: A Behavioral Ecological Analysis of Peleoarchaic and Early Archaic Lithic Technology
Jeremiah Bernau Geology & Geophysics
How will saline landscapes change during the Anthropocene? Using environmental records from the Bonneville Salt Flats to understand the effect of changing water availability and climate upon saline landscapes.
Savannah Bommarito Geography
Paleoecological Contributions to Land Management at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah
Archana Dahal Civil & Environmental Engineering
Cyanotoxin impact on ecosystem functionality and environmental sustainability
Hannah Hartley Geology & Geophysics
Analyzing lead isotope ratios from sediment traps to determine signals of cyclic seasonal sedimentation in Lake Powell, UT
Noah Hirshorn Atmospheric Sciences
Funding to Provide Cartridges for Biogenic Gas Measurements at Storm Peak Laboratory
Hayley Kievman Anthropology
An investigation into pre-contact indigenous resource management in coastal California
Maya Kobe-Rundio Environmental Humanities Graduate Program
Notes from the Landscape of Grief: A Multispecies Ethnography
Samuel Lopez Geology & Geophysics
Developing a method for mercury stable isotope analysis in saline waters with direct applications to a local mercury-impaired ecosystem (Great Salt Lake, Utah)
Bishav Bhattarai Civil & Environmental Engineering
Study of virus-host interaction in the anaerobic digester using metagenomics for optimization of sustainable waste management and renewable energy production
Blanca Yagüe Anthropology
Importance of Indigenous foods in the economy and social life of Indigenous peoples in Mitú
Kyle Brennan Geology & Geophysics
Developing Strontium Isotope Maps to Sustainably Manage Salmon of the Taku River Fishery. (British Columbia & Alaska)
Jessica Chaplain Communication
Resilence or Vunerability? On the Frontline of Climate Solutions
Sua Kim City & Metropolitan Planning
Assessing the economic recovery of local business interruption after disasters, Salt Lake City, Utah
Kaedan O'Brien Anthropology
Tracking Late Quaternary Ungulate Migration and Seasonality in Kenya Using Stable Isotopes
Abeer Sohrab Civil & Environmental Engineering
STUDY OF SURROGATE PATHOGENS IN WASTEWATER TO ENSURE WATER SUSTAINABILITY
Hannah Taub Environmental Humanities Graduate Program
Developing Indigenous History Programming at Antelope Island State Park
Madeleine Bavley Environmental Humanities Graduate Program
DEEPTHROAT HORIZON: A Petro Porno [a film project commentary on petroleum culture]
Dong-ah Choi City & Metropolitan Planning
Street greenery for active living communities: the relationship of physical and outdoor activity to automatically measured eye-level street greenery
Riley Finnegan Geology & Geophysics
Ambient Resonance of Indian Rock Arch, Yosemite National Park
Austin Green Biology
Where the Wild Things Are: How Species Navigate the Wasatch-Urban Interface
Jory Lerback Geology & Geophysics
Investigation of water resources used by Holocene foragers in the Bonneville basin
Keaton Tremble Biology
Impact of ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity and competition on aspen gene regulation
Peter Yaworsky Anthropology
Risk Mitigation in a Changing Environment: A Subsistence Farmer Perspective
Natalie Blanton Sociology "
Wombs Day Preppers": Climate Anxiety, Environmental Change, and Childbearing in Salt Lake County, Utah
Ruby Diaz Civil & Environmental Engineering
Bioremediation of PFAS (Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances) using a combination of fungi and bacteria.
Kevin Fagundo Ojeda City & Metropolitan Planning
En Masse: (Dis)placement and (dis)organization in Holyoke
Brenden Fischer-Femal Geology & Geophysics
Examining paleosol chemistry to understand how soils responded to warm time periods in Earth history.
Dale Forrister Biology
DNA Barcoding of Lepidoptera to Understand Insect Seasonality in Yasuni Ecuador
Soklida Hong Civil & Environmental Engineering
Understanding Inhibition of Anammox Activity by Nitrite, Sulfide and Recalcitrant Carbons at a Functional Gene Level
Kelly Kerr Biology
A multi-disciplinary approach to determining aspen drought tolerance and growth
Dylan Klure Biology
Investigating the Evolutionary Innovations of a Small Rodent to Novel Environmental Conditions
Jiada Li Civil & Environmental Engineering
Smart real-time control to enhance flooding resilience and stormwater sustainability
Devon Cantwell Political Science
City Climate Action Planning Processes and Networking
Kasey Cole Anthropology
Oxygen Isoscape Map of Northeastern California
Dale Forrister Biology
Reaching new heights: plant-herbivore interactions in the rainforest canopy
Austin Green Biology
Wasatch Wildlife Watch: A Community Science Approach to Investigating the Relationship between Humans and Wildlife in the Wasatch Mountain Wildland-Urban Interface
Jory Lerback Geology & Geophysics
Developing an isotopic proxy for paleo-springwater mean residence times using carbon isotopes
Philip-Peter Maxeiner Geology & Geophysics
Carbon and Strontium Chemo-Stratigraphy to Constrain the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary in Central Peru
Monte Neate-Clegg Biology
Elevational shifts in an Afrotropical bird community: a 38-year resurvey
Kaedan O'Brien Anthropology
Multiproxy assessment of African fossil horse dietary ecology
Peter Yaworsky Anthropology
Risk Mitigation in a Changing Environment: A Subsistence Farmer Perspective
Benjamin Breeden Geology & Geophysics
Paleoenvironmental and biotic responses to the Toarcian Ocean Anoxic Event: New insights from southwest Japan (Toyota Town, Yamaguchi Prefecture)
Natalie Blanton Sociology
Wombs Day Preppers: Climate Change and Childbearing in Salt Lake County, Utah
Margaret Doolin Biology
Desert herbivory in the age of global climate change
Susana Velásquez-Franco Geography
Listening to the Lagoon: Long-term Ecology to Improve Tropical Forests Environmental Management.
Elizabeth Berg Geology & Geophysics
Seismic Imaging the Subsurface of the Bonneville Salt Flats
Jeremiah Bernau Geology & Geophysics
How are evaporation, dust events, and anthropogenic uses at the Bonneville Salts related? – An interdisciplinary project to explore ties between salt crust evaporation rates, human uses, and dust storms at the Bonneville Salt Flats
James Blevins Anthropology
Sustainable Intertidal Resource Use: Developing Modern Baselines to Explain Prehistoric Human Impacts
Meaghan McKasy Communication
The Effect of Emotion, Knowledge, and Media Use on Attitudes and Public Opinion of Carbon Neutral Pledges
Travis Morrison Engineering
A methodology for acquiring spatial surface reflectance utilizing UAVs
Emily Post Anthropology
Effects of risk types on social support network structure in an Afro-Caribbean community impacted by Hurricane Maria
Marian Rice Political Science
The Energy-Water Nexus: Hydraulic Fracturing in the Uinta Basin
Sierra Sahulka Engineering
Comparative Metagenomic Analysis of Genotypic and Phenotypic Antibiotic Resistance Between Four Distinct Sub-Watersheds
Emerson Arehart Science
Conservation and Sustainability of Chile's Prized Wild Edible Mushroom, Boletus loyo
Hailey Blair Science
Feather Samples as a Source of DNA for Species Identification of Empidonax Flycatchers
Benjamin Marconi Social & Behavioral Sciences
Refining Chronologies: Examining the Impact of Holocene Climate Change on Wetlands in Baja, Mexico
Jermy Thomas Engineering
Pilot Study on how indoor environmental and physiological variables affect human thermal comfort
Keaton Tremble Science
Impact of ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity on aspen gene regulation
Brooke Larsen Environmental Humanities Graduate Program
The Colorado Plateau as a Frontline for Climate Justice
James Blevins Anthropology
Sustainable Intertidal Resource Use: Developing Modern Baselines to Explain Prehistoric Human Impacts
Carly Hansen Civil & Environmental Engineering
Monitoring Water Quality, Levels, and Bank Vegetation of the Jordan River using Low-Cost UAV
Nicole Torosin Anthropology
Evaluating the selective pressure effects of Yellow Fever Virus on howler monkey immune genes.
Jory Lerback Geology & Geophysics
Defining the interaction between faults and sprigs in Skull Valley, UT and how changes in spring hydrology will affect anthropogenic use
Grant Rea-Downing Geology & Geophysics
Developing magnetic techniques to track air pollution on the University of Utah campus
Joshua Heyer Geography
A paleoecological reconstruction from an oxbow lake on the Dolores River, Utah
Austin Green Biology
Ecology and Conservation of the Central Wasatch Range Mammal Community Along an Urban-Wildland Interface
Benjamin Breeden Geology & Geophysics
Contextualizing the Rise of Dinosaurs in North America: A Chemostratigraphic Investigation of the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary Interval in Northeastern Arizona
Casey Clifford Environmental Humanities Graduate Program
Drowning in Air
Dale Forrister Biology
Using Drones to Monitor Plant Phenology in Yasuni, Ecuador's hyper-diverse tropical forest
Kenneth Vernon Anthropology
HUMAN PLANT USE IN RED BUTTE CANYON
keunhyun park City & Metropolitan Planning
Not Parking Lots But Parks: The Impact of Urban Parks on Sustainable Travel Behavior in Station Areas
Pratiti Tagore City & Metropolitan Planning
Decoding the Urban Neighborhood: Influences of social dynamics, built environment and natural environment on human perceptions and safety
Sabrina McNew Biology
Identifying reservoirs of invasive parasites
Evan Kipnis Geology and Geophysics
Are changes to surface halite linked to shallow brine aquifer geochemistry at the Bonneville Salt Flats?
Jordan Herman Biology
Breeding Birds and Climate Change: Can Nest Type Provide Shelter From the Storm?
Sabrina McNew Biology
Does climate mediate the tolerance of Galapagos mockingbirds to invasive nest flies?
Andrew Bartlow Biology
The Effect of Pinyon-Juniper Invasion on Parasite Communities in the Great Basin
Ian Summers Communication
This land is your land? The role of social identity within land disputes
Joshua Mueller Geography
Paleotempestology of the British Virgin Islands
Kate Magargal Anthropology
People and Fire in Prehistory in the Upper Escalante Watershed, Utah
Alexei Perelet Mechanical Engineering
Exploration of the microclimate over structured sparse canopies using area averaged measurements from large aperture scintillometry
Joyita Roy Chowdhury Economics
Cooperation and Water Resource management: Experimental Evidence from villages affected by natural disasters in rural Odisha, India
Maria Groves Geography
An Ecological and Climatic Reconstruction of Range Creek Canyon, Utah
Casey Duncan Geology and Geophysics
Development and Deployment of a Low-Cost Multispectral Camera and UAV
Leah Campbell Atmospheric Sciences
Mountain Effects on Precipitation in the Chilean Andes
Ralph Burrillo Anthropology
δ18O Variability in Water Sources and Plant Cellulose on Elk Ridge, Southeast Utah: Data Collection for Models of Environmental Adaptation on the Prehistoric Colorado Plateau
Logan Frederick Geology and Geophysics
Assessing Sedimentary Records of the Quimsacocha Region of Ecuador for Potential Paleoclimate Analysis
Tyler Huth Geology and Geophysics
High resolution soil CO2 and soil water isotope profiles from Torrey, Utah
Cornelia Rasmussen Geology and Geophysics
Environmental effects of bolide impacts during the Late Triassic
Joyita Roy Chowdhury Economics
Poverty Traps, Risk and Natural disasters: Micro evidence from rural Odisha, India
Rose Verbos Parks, Recreation, and Tourism
Weather and outdoor recreation: A weather dependency framework and an exploration of outdoor recreationists’ perceptions of weather dependency
Amanda Bertana Sociology
Doctoral Dissertation Research: Environmentally Induced Migration
Leah Campbell Atmospheric Sciences
Mountain Effects on Precipitation in the Chilean Andes
Megan Moser Parks, Recreation and Tourism
Understanding Potential Visitor Responses to the Possible Recession Of Exit Glacier At Kenai Fjords National Park
Katherine Schide Geology
A Geomorphic Study of Transgressive Deposits and Local Climate Change in Late Pleistocene Lake Bonneville
Nicole Torosin Anthropology
A comparative study of human and howler monkey Toll-Like Receptor 7 under the selective pressure of yellow fever virus
Danielle Ward Geography
Laser Diffraction Analysis of Range Creek Canyon Sediments
Chris Zajchowski Parks, Recreation and Tourism
Valley flight: Normative standards for alpine recreation during air pollution events
Ralph Burrillo Anthropology
δ18O Variability in Water Sources on the Colorado Plateau: Preliminaries to Stable Isotope Models of Prehistoric Irrigation.
Vanessa Chavez Geography
Ciénega Activity and Climate Responses for a Desert Wetland in Baja California.
Mark Chynoweth Biology
Human-wildlife conflict in eastern Turkey: gaining perspective from community surveys
Mohd Yusuf Jameel Geology & Geophysics
Deciphering the source of carbon in the anthropogenically modified rivers of the Great Salt Lake basin
Patrice Kurnath Biology
Chill Out – Microclimate Use by Mammalian Herbivores Challenged with Temperature and Toxins
Kate Magargal Anthropology
Fetching Firewood: Access to fuels as a constraint for prehistoric settlement
Nathan Miller Mechanical Engineering
An Experimental Study of Block-scale Particle Dispersion in Grape Vineyards
Emily Schulze Biology
Hidden Water Worlds of Red Butte Canyon
Tracy Maezumi Geography
Neotropical Climate, Vegetation, and Fire Histories on Local and Regional Scales
Tracy Maezumi Geography
Identifying the extent of Human Landscape Modification in the Bolivian Amazon
Crystal Tulley-Cordova Geology & Geophysics
Recording the North American Monsoon in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah
Megan Walsh Civil & Environmental Engineering
Using Remote Sensing, GIS, and Field-Collected Data to Determine Erosion and Sedimentation Effects of the Oil & Gas Industry in the Uinta Basin
Kathryn White Parks, Recreation & Tourism
Spatial Analysis of Rock Climbers in Indian Creek, Utah
Evan Buechley Biology
Conservation agriculture: A study of birds, ecosystem services, and the ecology of Ethiopian coffee farms
Vachel Carter Geography
Forest Disturbance Regimes in the Uinta Mountains
Kendra Chritz Geology & Geophysics
Uncovering isotopic indicators of monsoon-induced terrestrial ecosystem change in eastern Africa
Youcan Feng Civil & Environmental Engineering
Study of Stormwater Volume Captured and Evapotranspiration using a Small Automated Lysimeter Constructed on the University of Utah Marriott Library Green Roof
Mohd Yusuf Jameel Geology & Geophysics
Impact of Anthropogenic activities on the Carbon budget of the Great Salt Lake, Utah
Michael Lewis Anthropology
Modeling Basketmaker II diets through stable isotope analysis of modern indigenous flora: field collection
Zachary Magdol Civil & Environmental Engineering
Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Red Butte Garden
Timothy Price Mechanical Engineering
Enhanced Atmospheric Turbulence Measurement System
Gerald Schneider Biology
Assessing Trends in Anthropogenic Ozone within an Urban-influenced Tropical Forest and Examining the Effects of O3 on the Foliar Chemical Landscape
Hilary Sgalitzer Parks, Recreation & Tourism
Sustainability: Understanding Travelers’ Motivations to Donate to Conservation
Paul Thomas Geology & Geophysics
Barrier Complexes in the Deep Creek Mountains, UT as G.K. Gilbert’s “Intermediate Shorelines” of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville
Tracy Maezumi Geography
Neotropical Climate, Vegetation, and Fire Histories on Local to Regional Scales
Crystal Tulley- Cordova Geology & Geophysics
High Frequency Monitoring of Stream Water Isotopes in Red Butte Creek
Sarah Knutie Biology
Predicting long-term effects of an invasive parasite: quantifying the observer effect
Tracy Maezumi Geography
Neotropical Climate and Fire Histories on Local to Regional Scales
Ann Bryant Geography
Reflectance characteristics of dust in snow: in situ data informing remote sensing retrievals
Maria-Jose Endara Biology
Towards sustainable insect management in agroforestry: The relevance of host plant defensive traits and phylogeny in determining herbivore host choice in the speciose Neotropical tree genus, Inga
Becky Hollingshaus Geology & Geophysics
Quantification of reservoir characteristics in areas of groundwater discharge – A Hydrolic Study in the Red Butte Canyon Research Natural Area
Patrice Kurnath Biology
Turning up the heat:Investigating the effects of climate change on liver metabolism in herbivorous mammals
David Lubbar Mathematics
Anistropic AC Measurements of Sea Ice
Greg Maurer Biology
Sensitivity of soil carbon cycle processes to mountain snowpack variability
Nathan Miller Mechanical Engineering
An Experimental Study of Fungal Spore Dispersion in Grape Vineyards
Erin Spear Biology
Phytopathogens as determinants of tree species distributions across a rainfall gradient
Johanna Varner Biology
Too hot to trot? Factors promoting pika survival in a time of global change
Jennifer Watt Geography
Bark beetle outbreaks and the role that vegetation plays in their disturbance ecology
Brett Wolfe Biology
The determinants of drought response in tropical trees
Carina Maron Biology
Do southern right whales need to eat krill in order to reproduce successfully?
Global Changes and Society Project-based Course
Offered in the spring, the project-based course “Global Changes and Society” (SUST 6000) offers an interdisciplinary introduction to research related to global changes and sustainability. In this course, students from different disciplines Identify a theme or focus area, begin to learn the language and approaches of other disciplines around the theme, explore perspectives and approaches of different stakeholders, and develop a team project.
Read about the projects from each class.
Environment and Sustainability Research Symposium
Held every spring, the symposium provides a great opportunity for students from across campus to synthesize and present their research in a poster session. Presenters from past years are listed here.
Air Quality Scholars
The Air Quality Scholars program, sponsored by the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, the Sustainability Office, and the Global Change and Sustainability Center, provides scholarships, training, and engagement opportunities to U of U undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in understanding and improving air quality.
Undergraduates
The GCSC also engages in partnerships that provide undergraduate students with training and mentoring that will help prepare them to address the complex challenges of sustainability and the environment, working in interdisciplinary teams, where data sharing, collaboration, and communication are essential.