“A switch flipped” for Kristen Cognac, describing how she found her niche in hydrogeology. Initially, she started her studies in environmental engineering but found herself fascinated by groundwater. After her undergraduate studies, she worked as an environmental consultant where she benefited from diverse mentors and honed in on hydrogeology as her next educational endeavor.

Read more about Kristen Cognac and her valuable hydrogeology research.

Conflicts around forest land management have been at the center of Dr. Tony Cheng’s career. Early on he recognized the benefit of avoiding lengthy legal battles using collaboration as a primary method of solving natural resource disputes. He observed the success of Oregon’s voluntary multi-stakeholder approaches to conservation which also yielded social and economic benefits to rural communities. The solutions were developed through alliances between people who were physically linked through a shared place rather than relationships entirely dependent on legal delineations.

Read more about Dr. Cheng and his recent work in Colorado firesheds.