Dr. Winslow D. Hansen - Assistant Scientist
Winslow is a forest and ecosystem ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and affiliate faculty with E3B at Columbia University and IARC at University of Alaska Fairbanks. His research is focused on advancing knowledge of the changing Earth system by uncovering rules that govern interactions and feedbacks among forests, disturbances, and climate.
Prior to joining the Cary Institute, Dr. Hansen was an Earth Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University where he used models and remote sensing to develop and test theory about the resilience of Alaskan boreal forests and the sensitivity of forests to increasing climate variability globally. He received his Ph.D. in integrative biology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and holds a M.Sc. in Forest Science from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and bachelor's degrees in ecology and economics from the University of Montana. When not at work, Winslow enjoys riding bikes, reading, and exploring the culture and forests of upstate New York.
Dr. Manette Sandor - Research Associate
Manette is a community and quantitative ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. Her research is focused on how climate change, management, and feedbacks influence forest and fire dynamics in the western United States. Prior to joining the Cary Institute, Dr. Sandor was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University as well as a Visiting Scientist at the American Museum of Natural History in the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation. Before that, she was a Postdoctoral Scholar at Landscape Conservation Initiative at Northern Arizona University (now the Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes). Her postdoctoral research had two foci: the socioecological repercussions for changing fire regimes in the Sonoran Desert and anthropogenic impacts on mutualist interactions (seed dispersal and pollination). She received her M.Sc. in plant ecology and Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Connecticut.
Lora Murphy, M.S. - Programmer
Lora is a research support professional specializing in data analysis, code writing of all kinds, GIS, and high performance computing applications. In her over 20 years in the field, she has contributed to various projects including the creation of the SORTIE-ND forest model, forecasting climate change effects on forests of the eastern US, modeling light availability in agroforestry applications, and government-sponsored efforts to control forest pathogens in both the US and Canada. She has run code on everything from 10-year-old laptops to national supercomputers.
Dr. Jazlynn Hall - Postdoctoral Associate
Jazlynn is a forest and landscape ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. She studies how disturbances like fire and deforestation influence forest carbon sequestration in the western United States and seeks to identify management solutions for maximizing ecosystem services in current and future forest systems. Before her appointment at the Cary Institute, Jazlynn received her PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology from Columbia University. Her dissertation research drew from principles in ecology, hydrology, and geography to determine the effects of forest disturbance from extreme events on carbon sequestration and streamflow in Puerto Rico. She holds a BS in Geography and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Wyoming. Jazlynn is a reading enthusiast, bourgeoning forager and weekend backpacker.
Dr. Kate Hayes - NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
Kate is a landscape ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. She received an NSF postdoctoral fellowship to use iLand to explore how new patterns of pests, pathogens and herbivores interact with disturbances fire and drought to alter forest community resilience and carbon in high-latitude environments.
Prior to her time at Cary, Kate studied how increasing fire in Alaska alters forest communities, carbon and future fire behavior at the University of Colorado Denver where she received her PhD. She received her M.S. in Geography from the University of Oregon where she reconstructed patterns of prehistoric fire activity in Coast Redwood forests in Northern California. She did her bachelor's degrees at the University of Wisconsin Madison, majoring in geography, Spanish and environmental studies. Outside of research, she likes cooking, sewing and the outdoors in any form.
Elizeabeth Buhr - Alaska Field Manager and Junior Programmer
Elizabeth coordinates Alaskan fieldwork and contributes to the analysis of field data. Her research in Alaska centers on boreal forest regeneration after wildfires. She has a background in botany and field ecology. As an undergraduate, she worked as a field research assistant studying alpine plant community ecology at the University of Colorado’s Mountain Research Station. After graduation, she spent two years in New Mexico collecting native plant seeds for restoration and conservation through the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Seeds of Success (SOS) program. She then led a field crew collecting data for the BLM’s Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) program in Arizona and Wyoming. She has also interned with The Guppy Project in Trinidad & Tobago contributing to research on the evolution of Trinidadian guppies and killifish. She holds a B.A. in ecology and English literature from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Dr. Arielle Brio - Postdoctoral associate
Arielle is an ecosystem ecologist and biogeochemist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. Her research in the Forest Futures Lab focuses on using simulation modeling to understand how top-down and bottom-up ecosystem drivers, ranging from climate, fire, species composition, and soil nutrients, affect the future of boreal forests under climate warming.
Before joining the Cary Institute, Arielle received her PhD in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from Yale University where she studied nutrient acquisition and plant-microbe interactions in African savannas. Her research focused on understanding how soil nutrients, soil microbes, fire, and nitrogen fixation affect savanna tree growth and ecosystem nutrient pools. She received her B.S. from Binghamton University, majoring in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and minoring in music. Outside of work, Arielle enjoys reading, hiking, and baking bread.
Nichole Gange - Program Manager
Nichole provides program management of Dr. Hansen’s Western Fire & Forest Resilience Collaborative research team at The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. She coordinates teams of scientists, conducts outreach, manages administration and operations.
Prior to joining Cary, she worked for various government agencies and non-profits as an Interpretive Naturalist. Nichole has managed visitor centers, facilitated restoration projects, coordinated events, developed interpretive signage and delivered hundreds of thousands of programs to the public and government staff. Nichole has volunteered organizing and presenting at regional workshops and national conferences with the National Association for Interpretation. Nichole has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Management & Protection: Interpretation & Environmental Education from Cal Poly Humboldt.
Nancy Cooper - Executive Assistant
Nancy joined the Cary team in October 2023 as an executive assistant to Winslow Hansen. She plays a critical role in coordinating “behind the scenes” aspects of the Future Forest Lab and beyond.
Nancy grew up and currently resides in Southern Maine, but spent her collegiate years in upstate New York at Ithaca College where she studied Exercise Science. Outside of her administrative duties, she teaches group exercise classes and loves to stay active with her family.
Alumni
Dr. Sara Germain - Postdoctoral Associate (2022-2023)
Now Assistant Professor, Dept. Botany University of Wyoming.