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MEET A LEAF: Audrey Maheu

9/27/2021

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.Dr. Audrey Maheu is an Associate professor at the Université du Québec en Outaouais
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What does ecohydrology mean to you?
Ecohydrology looks at the interaction between hydrology and ecosystems. From there, I tend to classify things into “aquatic ecohydrology” and “terrestrial ecohydrology” depending on the main ecosystem of interest. It is my coarse way to look at things but one that I have found useful to navigate such a broad field.
 
What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in?
I completed all my degrees in my home province of Quebec (Canada), making my way to a new town at each step. I did my undergraduate in geomatics at the Université de Sherbrooke, a program that mixed geography, ecology and computer sciences. I did my MSc in integrated water resources management (IWRM) at McGill University. It was a non-thesis program. Research was not really on my radar yet and my interest was at the science-policy interface at that time. After my masters, I worked two years for the Canadian federal government. I worked at Environment Canada on indicators tracking the status of the environment. There, I worked with brilliant people that sparked my interest into research. I left the federal government to do my PhD in water sciences at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) where my thesis was on the impact of dams on stream water temperature. Finally, I did my postdoc at Université Laval where I worked with the maximum entropy production model to improve the simulation of evapotranspiration in hydrological models.
 
How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology?
My PhD thesis focused on stream water temperature and interest in this variable is typically from a fish habitat perspective. As a result, I interacted a lot with stream ecologists, from the Canadian Rivers Institute or from the defunct HydroNet network. For a semester during my PhD, I also visited N. LeRoy Poff’s stream ecology lab at Colorado State University where I worked on classifying the thermal regime of streams in the USA. These experiences made it so that, while I approach things from a hydrologist perspective, making links to ecology comes naturally. In fact, I believe a comprehensive approach bringing together various disciplines is essential to understand the complex functioning of natural systems.
 
What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology?
An increase in extreme events is projected with climate change and a lot of work has been done to dress a portrait as to what to expect. I believe the next step is to propose ways to better manage and withstand these extremes. There is a lot of interest in what has been coined “nature-based solutions.” To make that work, I believe we need to better understand and model the role of vegetation in mediating hydrological extremes, either droughts or floods.
 
Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper?  Describe/explain.
 One of my favorite papers is Changing forest water yields in response to climate warming: results from long-term experimental watershed sites across North America published in Global Change Biology by Irena F. Creed et al. This paper brings together a lot of my favorite things in science: long-term monitoring, a team effort to synthesize multiple datasets and elegant ties to theory. This paper was the first one I read that brought the concept of resilience to hydrology. A key result is that the type of forest vegetation, more particularly vegetation diversity, influenced the resilience of catchments to climate change. This paper made me realize how rare it is to make a connection between hydrology and biodiversity in the literature, which I think is a path that should be pursued more.
 
What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)?
I always enjoyed traveling, something I enjoy even more now that I get to show the world to my two young kids. With COVID, I spent a lot of time at home and gardening is my newfound interest. I also very much enjoy reading science fiction books.
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MEET A LEAF: Erika Winner

9/20/2021

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Erika Winner is a Master’s student at the University of Minnesota Duluth in the Water Resources Science Program.  She works in Dr. Salli Dymond’s Water and Tree Ecohydrology Research (WaTER) lab.
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What does ecohydrology mean to you?
For me, ecohydrology is integrating our mechanistic model of the hydrologic cycle with our newer concepts of ecosystem functions and services. It scales from quantifying plant water use to regional and global impacts of human behavior on water resources.

What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in?
I have a BS in Biology and a BA in Geology, both from Western Washington University and a graduate certificate in Geographic Information Systems from Portland State University.

How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology?
I grew up going on multi-day whitewater rafting trips. My parents taught me how read the river to safely maneuver the raft through tricky sections. My mom’s philosophy is “work with the river instead of fighting it,” and that’s how I learned about the power of water. It wasn’t until I was working on my GIS certificate, after my career has meandered through marine mammalogy and environmental education, that my interest in rivers and hydrology resurfaced. I got a job as a field technician surveying streams for the Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program (CHaMP). That job made me realize I wanted to work in aquatic systems instead of marine ones. After two seasons, I went to work for the Bureau of Land Management in the Aquatic and Riparian Effectiveness Monitoring Program (AREMP), where I got to travel throughout the Pacific Northwest surveying streams. It got me to think a lot more about watersheds and how land management impacts stream health. After four seasons of pebble counts and measuring large wood, I decided it was time to pursue a master’s in water resources and answer the questions I was beginning to develop as a technician.

What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology?
I’m seeing a greater push to incorporate a lot of ecohydrology research into adaptive management plans. It’s really exciting to see land and water managers apply academic work to real-world problems.

Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper?  Describe/explain.
Dr. Margarita Saft has a series of papers from 2015 and 2016 that look at the impacts of multi-year drought on the rainfall-runoff relationship. I had drawn out a very similar schematic to the one shown in the papers just the day before I found them. I was beyond excited to find a similar approach to the one I was forming in my head. I also love the papers for their approachable analysis. The team was able to answer a fairly meaty question using some elegantly simple methods. It’s a good reminder that complicated is not always better.

What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)?
Like most people in this field, I try to get outside as much as possible. I love most water-based activities, whether it’s liquid or frozen, so skiing, rafting, kayaking, diving, etc. (Are there any water activities in the vapor phase?) I listen to too many podcasts. I enjoy being a perpetual beginner at watercolor painting, playing ukulele, and speaking Spanish. 
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MEET A LEAF: Katie Spahr

9/13/2021

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Dr. Katie Spahr is Research Program Manager at The Water Research Foundation.
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What does ecohydrology mean to you?
For me, ecohydrology is an interdisciplinary field that explores relationships between water and ecological systems at different scales and different settings (i.e. developed vs. undeveloped).

What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in?
I have a BS (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo), a MS (CU Boulder), and a PhD (Colorado School of Mines) all in Environmental Engineering. I also am a licensed Professional Environmental Engineer; I am clearly consistent. My degrees and subsequent work experience have focused on urban water and treatment spanning the different types of water (e.g. stormwater, drinking water, grey water, water resources). I label myself as a water engineer.

How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology?
My PhD and Postdoc work focused on contextualizing and communicating the ancillary social and environmental benefits associated with green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). As part of this work, I explored the hydrologic-process and vegetated-related benefits of GSI. I really enjoyed diving into the literature that related larger urban green infrastructure installations, like parks, to positive ecological outcomes, like mitigation of urban heat, and exploring if the findings would be appropriate to apply to GSI.

What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology?
I think the most important and prescient work that is being done is looking at equity and the built environment. Specifically, I think we need to take a deeper dive into verifying that all the ancillary benefits of urban green infrastructure are actually being realized and which communities are receiving these benefits. I am part of a team hosting an AGU 2021 session entitled “Urban heat, vegetation, and water dynamics: new insights and implications for management and equity” and am looking forward to chatting with colleagues in the field about this important work.

Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper?  Describe/explain.
I find myself thinking a lot about Shorky et al. 2020 where the authors analyze the placement of GSI and the consequent socio-ecological risk in Philadelphia, PA, USA. The authors looked at how GSI sped up gentrification in some Philadelphia neighborhoods and lead to displaced and socio-ecological insecurity for vulnerable populations.
Shokry, G., J. J. Connolly, and I. Anguelovski. 2020. “Understanding climate gentrification and shifting landscapes of protection and vulnerability in green resilient Philadelphia.” Urban Clim. 31 (Mar): 100539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2019.100539.

 
What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)?
I like to read (mostly fiction), get outside (mountain biking, rock climbing, ice climbing; all the Colorado sports!), garden, cook, and hang out with my family and my dog. I’m looking forward to being able to travel more soon but I have loved all the road trips we have been taking lately. 
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MEET A LEAF: Dom Cirruzi

9/6/2021

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Dr. Dom Ciruzzi is an Assistant Professor of Geology at the College of William & Mary.
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What does ecohydrology mean to you?
Broadly, I think ecohydrology addresses the bi-directional interaction between hydrological and ecological processes. For me, actively participating in ecohydrological research has provided another way of thinking about and interacting with the world around me. Through asking ecohydrological questions, I have been able to practice skills related to science communication, quantitative reasoning, tool development, fieldwork, lab analyses, and proper mosquito and tick prevention. I have also been able to experience beautiful landscapes, bask in vibrant sunrises and sunsets (often during 24-hour field campaigns), discover new (to me) concepts, and form relationships with inspiring people. In reflecting on how I got to this point, I am thankful and proud to identify as an ecohydrologist.
                                                                             
What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in?
B.A. in Geophysics and a minor in Math from SUNY Geneseo
M.S. in Geological Sciences from the University at Buffalo
Ph.D. in Geological Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison

 
How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology?
My path to get to ecohydrology was non-linear and seemed to happen after winnowing down broad interests and through the encouragement of many mentors to keep pursuing my interests. I do remember having interests in water and environmental issues from a young age, but I certainly did not know I could build a career around researching ecohydrology questions, let alone what “ecohydrology” was. I also didn’t know a lot about grad school or what a PhD was until I got to college. Anyways, I’ll start at the beginning of when I went off to college.

I started my undergraduate studies as a physics major. I also wanted to double major in art, but the art department got cut out the budget in my sophomore year (sad!). Another shift in my undergrad career happened when I took a class called Our Geologic Environment in my junior year. In that semester, I learned that I was much more interested in applying physics and math to learn about geological processes. I got involved in a research project with Dr. Scott Giorgis investigating the paleomagnetism of the Henry Mountains in Utah, which solidified my desire to pursue learning more about the geophysical sciences. I wrapped up my undergrad studies with a geophysics degree, but I didn’t know what aspect of geology/geophysics I liked most. I decided to enroll in the University at Buffalo’s M.A. in Geological Sciences program, to take graduate level classes and sift through and learn more about my academic interests.

After a year of learning more about geology, I transitioned into the M.S. program at UB and began working with Dr. Chris Lowry on a research project investigating the impact of aquifer geometry on groundwater-surface water interactions in mountain meadows. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to explore my interests in geophysics and hydrogeology. Our research site was in Yosemite National Park, and after a fun day pushing a GPR cart around the meadow, we sat on pothole dome to relax. I remember sitting down on the granitic rock, looking across the meadow and the vastness around me, and thinking to myself something along the lines of “How can I keep finding myself in places like this in research and in life?” I was easily moved by conducting fieldwork at such a beautiful place and working with a wonderful, encouraging mentor.

Following this experience, I was interested in learning more about the ways hydrology and geophysics could be synthesized to address the sustainability of natural and built ecosystems in the contexts of climate change and land use change. This led me to UW-Madison where I was advised by Dr. Steve Loheide through the Ph.D. program in Geological Engineering. Again, an incredible mentor helped me focus my research interests and it was somewhere in the middle of northern Wisconsin, socks pulled over my pants, shooting leaves off a tree in the middle of the night with a slingshot that I felt like I found my place as an ecohydrologist.
 
What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology?
I’m excited for the directions that new technology, monitoring efforts, and continuous data streams will take the field in advancing ecohydrological observations and models across scales. Importantly, as more and more data in ecohydrology and other fields become freely available and accessible, I view this as an important opportunity for ecohydrologists to leverage in collaborating with diverse disciplines to address wicked problems holistically. The inclusion of diverse voices in ecohydrology will always be an important area to embrace in moving forward.
 
Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper?  Describe/explain.
When I was trying to figure out research directions for my dissertation, I drew a lot of inspiration from Vose et al., 2011’s paper, “Forest ecohydrological research in the 21st century: What are the critical needs?.” In particular, this paper ends with five calls for important future research directions; I was drawn in by four of them as it related to my interests and skills I wanted to develop: (1) Understanding watershed responses to climate change and variability; (2) Developing integrated models that capitalize on long-term data; (3) Linking ecohydrological processes across scales; and, (4) Managing forested watershed to adapt to climate change. These research needs are, still, worth pursuing and this paper helped me wrap my head around focusing my dissertation research, so I have appreciated its lasting impact on me. 

 
What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)?
I love to paint (digital, acrylic, oil), hike around, and cook new recipes. I just moved to Williamsburg, VA, so have been enjoying exploring this new area too! 
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