Meet the River Center
Principal Investigators
Emily Bernhardt
Enjoys tracking elements through ecosystems, the more degraded the better 
Ryan Emanuel
Studies water and its relationships to ecosystems and people |
Martin Doyle
Likes reading (and writing) the history of riverscapes 
Jim Heffernan
Obsessed with ecosystem change at all temporal scales |
Technical Staff
Brooke Hassett
River Center Lab Manager 
Lauren Krohmer
Bernhardt lab manager |
Michael Vlah
Data Scientist |
Research Scientists & Post-Docs
Heili Lowman
Heili is an aquatic biogeochemist and ecosystem ecologist who explores ecosystem transformation and resilience with a particular focus on aquatic biogeochemistry at the terrestrial-aquatic interface and aquatic ecosystem responses to and memory of disturbance (e.g., floods, fires).
Heili is an aquatic biogeochemist and ecosystem ecologist who explores ecosystem transformation and resilience with a particular focus on aquatic biogeochemistry at the terrestrial-aquatic interface and aquatic ecosystem responses to and memory of disturbance (e.g., floods, fires).
PhD Students
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Jocelyn Painter
Spencer Rhea
Spencer's work seeks to understand how saltwater intrusion and sea level rise affect carbon cycling in coastal wetlands and rivers. 
Skye-Anne Tschoepe
Skye-Anne studies the environmental justice implications of natural gas pipeline development in rural communities 
Shannon Plunkett
Shannon is deeply interested in metal contaminants in ecosystems and is currently working on the impacts of mercury contamination arising from both small scale and industrial gold mining on rivers and people in the Madre de Dios region of Peru and old and new mining frontiers in Ecuador.
Allison Pearce
Zoe Dietrich
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Jennie Bahramian
Ryan Parks
Ryan’s work focuses on the environmental influences, such as estuarine dynamics and deforestation, on hydrologically mediated health effects among rural communities.
Lizzy Weyl
Peter Wasswa
Peter is interested in reservoir optimization and operations under a changing climate across different climatological areas. Peter aims to explore reservoir operators’ behaviors under extreme weather events. 
Yuyang Wang
Yuyang is interested in plant species introduction in the context of globalization, focusing on the novel traits that determine their success in new regions. She also aims to explore the ecological impacts of these species on community structure and function, with particular interest in how climate change influences both the introduction process and the resulting ecological effects. Currently, She is studying these ideas in salt marsh ecosystems in North America and Asia, where the Asian reed Phragmites and North American cordgrass Spartina are competing to become the dominant species. |
MEM Students
Jonathan Gilman
Jonathan is a Master of Environmental Management student interested in aquatic biology, biogeochemistry, and watershed management! |
Andrew Barfield
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Undergraduate Researchers
Gabrielle Moreau
Gabrielle is majoring in geography and environmental policy, and her research interests span environmental justice and Indigenous involvement in climate policy. She is currently involved with research into salt water intrusion and sea level rise impacts on coastal communities, and transboundary allocation frameworks in tuna fisheries and the Colorado River Basin. 
Erin Chen
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Chibuike Okafor
Chibuike is majoring in environmental science policy and biology. Her current research studies plant-water movement and usage and how the implications of saltwater intrusion and seal level rise impact these internal plant mechanisms. 
Josh Goozman
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This could be you... send an email to one or more PIs if you are interested in conducting undergraduate research with one or more of us...
