Bio

Svetlana is a doctoral student at the University of Montana. She studied neuroscience at the University of Michigan for her undergraduate degree, but her experience working as a volunteer with the Student Conservation Association at the Bridger-Teton National Forest convinced her that she should become an ecologist. After earning a master’s degree in forest ecology from Oregon State University, she worked for several years as a vegetation specialist for California State Parks. Her work experience motivated her to return to graduate school to study climate change impact projection and to think about climate-informed approaches to managing natural resources. In her free time, she is learning to be a mom to her infant daughter and spends time outdoors on foot or mountain bike. 

Svetlana’s research interests are motivated by her experience as a land manager and the need for management-relevant climate impacts information. Svetlana is interested in forecasting climate change impacts on plant communities and navigating the challenges of making these forecasts relevant to land managers. As part of her dissertation, Svetlana projects mid-21^st century forest type distribution in Oregon using a method called climate analogs; knowing where future climate will remain suitable or stop being suitable for growing forests can be used to prioritize post-fire forest restoration and forest management more generally. Svetlana’s dissertation also examines the relative strengths and weaknesses of climate analogs as a climate impact projection method.

Learn more about Svetlana’s research