Team

Yifan Cheng works with the Arctic Rivers Project on land surface and climate models. His area of expertise is in hydrology, but he also has done previous research with freshwater ecology to understand how climate change will affect the future of different fish species. Yifan has previously worked with diverse and interdisciplinary research projects leading him to the Arctic Rivers Project. Yifan’s goal for the Arctic Rivers Project is to...

Mike lives in Anchorage! Mike is a research fish biologist for the USGS at the Alaska Science Center and has worked there for 9 years. His research extends into three main areas: aquatic invasives, thermal ecology, and landscape dynamics specifically considering permafrost thaw and its implications. He focuses on how these three environmental changes impact fish. “The research fish biologist...who happens to live in Alaska. I will be involved in...

Aine Lawlor is a USGS intern and attends Bowdoin College in Maine where she will graduate with a degree in Government and Legal Studies. She has assisted in many aspects of the project including the construction of a comprehensive literature review of all research done within the study region regarding Indigenous People & climate change and a similar review of knowledge co-production. The Arctic Rivers Project social media is often...

Ryan has worked for over twenty years in water resources in the Tropics, Pacific Northwest, and the Arctic. Throughout those years, he has worked as a consultant, academic, tribal non-governmental organization staff, and now with the federal government. His current position with the US Geological Survey, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center, includes interdisciplinary research and application that involves investigating environmental change, hydrological modeling and community-based research that integrates Indigenous Knowledge,...

Dylan Blaskey is a PhD student and research assistant at the University of Colorado Boulder. As part of the Arctic Rivers Project, he is developing a hydrologic model to assess discharge dynamics across various watersheds in Central and Northern Alaska, and how river dynamics are being affected by climate change. Guided by the direction of the Indigenous Advisory Council, Dylan hopes that outputs from his model can also possibly be...

Cassandra Brooks is an Assistant Professor in Environmental Studies at CU Boulder. She is an interdisciplinary scientist, working at the intersections of research, policy, and public engagement. Cassandra has a strong research background in marine science and has focused the last 15 years of her career on Antarctic ecosystems. She was instrumental in the creation of the world’s largest marine protected area, located in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. For the...

Arctic Rivers Assistant Project Manager, Sabre Duren, has over 20 years of research experience in monitoring, protecting and restoring natural aquatic ecosystems to develop successful long-term solutions for the integrity of watersheds. She also has extensive experience developing and implementing environmental education programs. She is dedicated to supporting the team and planning logistics for the 2022 Arctic Rivers Summit in Anchorage, Alaska. Sabre received her BA, MS, and PhD from...

Noah Molotch is a snow hydrologist working with the Arctic Rivers Project. He is also an associate professor of geography at the University of Colorado Boulder. He tries to understand how changes in climate affect snow which in turn affects rivers and river ecosystems. Noah has done previous work with the co-production of research with stakeholders, an important aspect of the Arctic Rivers Project. His goal for the Arctic Rivers...

Peyton Thomas is a postdoctoral associate in the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) and Environmental Studies program at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Before her postdoctoral studies, she received her B.S. in Environmental Science at Baylor University where she studied microplastic ingestion and the ecology of coastal forage fishes along the Texas coast. She went on to pursue a Ph.D. in Biology and Marine Biology at the...

Karl Lindenshmidt works with the Arctic Rivers Project on river ice modeling. He is also a professor at the University of Saskatchewan. Karl has been developing methods for ice jam flood forecasting, risk assessment and mapping. He hopes that his work on the Arctic Rivers Project will promote Ice Jam forecasting capabilities in other regions. He is also looking at the impacts of climate change on ice jams in the...

Heidi Swanson is an associate professor at the University of Waterloo. Her research focuses on Arctic Char and other northern fishes, and she and her students often work with communities to address questions about the safety and security of subsistence fish species. Heidi’s involvement with the Arctic Rivers Projects stems from her experience in community-driven research. She helped in the very earliest stages with the formation of the Indigenous Advisory...

Edda Mutter is the Science Director with the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council (YRITWC) where she oversees the Indigenous Observation Network, a community science program focused on water quality and active layer monitoring spanning the Yukon River Watershed. Edda’s research in the Yukon River Watershed focuses on the transport, effect, and fate of contaminants within soil, permafrost, and aquatic ecosystems and how these contaminants affect water quality. Edda hopes that...