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.
Dr. Jazlynn Hall - Research 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.
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. 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.
Elizabeth 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. Miriam Johnston - postdoctoral associate
Miriam is a global change ecologist who uses ecosystem models and “big data,” such as remote sensing, to study the effects of climatic stress on plant demography and ecosystem function. At the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, she is an enthusiastic member of the Western Fire and Forest Resilience Collaborative, and she is working to develop a predictive understanding of post-wildfire forest regeneration in Gunnison County, Colorado. Miriam holds a PhD in ecosystem ecology from Harvard University, where she received a NASA fellowship to integrate thermal remote sensing data with the Ecosystem Demography terrestrial biosphere model. She has an MS in ecology from the University of Maryland and a BA in conservation biology from Middlebury College. Outside of research, Miriam enjoys beach combing, potlucking, and wandering up mountains with her pup.
Nichole Gange - Program Manager
Nichole provides program management of Dr. Hansen’s Western Fire & Forest Resilience Collaborative research group 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.
Mahsa Khodaee - Data Scientist
Mahsa Khodaee is a Data Scientist at the Forest Future Lab and the Western Fire & Forest Resilience Collaborative. She holds a Ph.D. in Physical Geography, specializing in remote sensing and environmental science. Her work focuses on geospatial and remote sensing analysis and modeling, translating data into actionable insights to address climate change and wildfire impacts on ecosystems and communities.
Kate Amato - Program Coordinator
Kate provides administrative support to Dr. Winslow and oversees project coordination for the Forest Futures Lab and the Western Fire & Forest Resilience Collaborative.
Prior to joining the Cary Institute, she spent 10 years in the special event industry in which she owned and operated a sustainable floral design business in the Hudson Valley. Kate has a background in art administration with a focus on public art and gallery exhibitions. She holds a B.A. in art history and a M.A in museum studies from Marist University. In her free time, Kate enjoys oil painting and camping in the Adirondacks.
Quinn Asena - Data Scientist
Quinn is interested in ecological dynamics and mechanisms that underlie change in ecosystems overtime and space. His main research focus is around biotic interactions and how ecosystems respond to environmental and climate change. Much of his previous research focused on long-term ecological trajectories and palaeoecology. Currently, Quinn is exploring contemporary ecosystem change through process-based models.
Alumni
Dulce vera - executive assistant
Now Executive Assistant
Dr. Arielle BiRo - Postdoctoral associate (2023-2024)
Now Senior Climate Scientist at Dewberry.
Dr. Sara Germain - Postdoctoral Associate (2022-2023)
Now Assistant Professor, Dept. Botany University of Wyoming.
Nancy Cooper - Executive Assistant
Now Executive Assistant