My Research

I am co-lead and climate and data expert in an interdisciplinary project that studies the vulnerability of beef cattle production in the U.S. Great Plains to climate variability and change. We use climate projections and vegetation simulations to study how grasslands in the Great Plains, a major source of forage for rangeland cattle, respond to increasing droughts or heat. We calculate changes in land cover and biomass production. To assess the economic viability of ranching, we use economic simulations to estimate the costs of management practices to counter the impacts of climate change, such as feed purchases or de-and re-stocking. 

My dissertation, which received the 2020 Dissertation Award from the American Association of State Climatologists, combines survey and climate research to develop and test seasonal climate forecasts tailored to the needs of winter wheat producers in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. This collaborative project, which I developed independently and conducted at the South Central Climate Climate Adaptation Science Center, found new ways to use existing model data to help crop producers minimize climate-related losses due to drought, heat, or extreme rainfall.

Research Poster (September 2018)

My Research Interests

In order to produce practical and trusted results that serve the needs of real-world decision making, it is essential to collaborate across disciplines and engage with non-academic stakeholders. I am looking for opportunities to collaborate with managers, policy makers, businesses, non-profit organizations, and peer researchers, to produce interdisciplinary, actionable research that improves the resilience of coupled human-natural systems to climate variability and change.