Kaitlyn Briggs,

Thesis:

Tree Water Use and Streamflow Dynamics in Coastal Northern California Forests: Implications for Forest Resilience in the Face of Climate Change

Growing up in Southern California, Kaitlyn always had a passion for the outdoors from the mountains to the beaches, where she found fascination with the biodiverse aspects of each biome across the state. She received her B.S. in Ecology and Evolution from University of California Santa Barbara. During her time as an undergraduate, Kaitlyn dedicated her time outside of class seeking out lab positions, internships, and jobs involving sycamore genotyping, studying phenological shifts in plants affected by climate change, identifying estuarine microorganisms for aquatic restoration projects, planting trees in urban zones, being a teaching assistant for a stream ecology course, and working for the U.S. Forest Service through a UC program to collect eDNA samples from active fish populated streams in the Los Padres National Forest. Kaitlyn’s research interests include freshwater ecology, river restoration, watershed management, and forest ecology. Working with Andrew Stubblefield and Lucy Kerhoulas, Kaitlyn’s thesis investigates tree water use from different sources within the watersheds in coastal northern California forests during the summer, in the context of climate change-driven droughts. She will compare various water extraction methods for stable isotope analysis of tree, soil, stream, and precipitation samples to analyze each tree’s proportional water sources based on species, size, location from the stream, and time of year. Her results will help inform the water budget for each watershed and how forest management practices could selectively harvest trees to increase streamflow during the summertime dry period.  

Rylee Rawson ,

Thesis:

Characterizing Ecosystem Response to Stream Crossing Removal in Redwood National Park

Rylee's project explores the impact of restoration efforts in Redwood National and State Park (RNSP) on stream ecosystems. In the 1950s and 1960s, over half of RNSP was clear-cut, resulting in hundreds of miles of old logging and skid roads that have contributed to significant hillslope erosion and sediment pollution in streams. In some extreme cases, roads were constructed directly in stream beds, burying entire tributaries under 10 to 20 feet of sediment. To address these issues, the National Park Service, California State Parks, and Save the Redwoods League have partnered to restore the landscape through forest thinning and road removal. Rylee's project will assess how stream ecosystems recover after road fill is removed, providing insights into successional processes in headwater streams and informing future restoration efforts.

Nathan Whittington

Lecturer

Shelley Mitchell, M.A.

Lecturer

Scott Nelson