Fellows
Kathryn Barnard
E-mail: kbarnard@pdx.edu
School Partner: Dexter McCarty, Gresham
Teacher Partner: Leslie Woods
Research: From the soil to the bottle: an elemental perspective on terroir in the northern Willamette Valley, Oregon.
Advisor: Dr. Scott Burns, Geology
Degree: Phd Geology
Bio
I'm a 2nd year PhD student studying the relationship between geology, soils, and wine which is also know as terroir. My bachelor's degree is in geology from Grand Valley State University in Michigan. I earned my master's degree from Missouri State in geospatial Sciences in geography, geology, and planning (GIS,aerial/satellite photography, photogrammetry) and used imagery to research whether vineyard placement in Missouri. I have taught general geology lab courses and enjoy doing community workshops for various groups on rocks and minerals or map reading and orienteering. I enjoy disc golf and photography hiking.
Leslie Bliss-Ketchum
E-mail: bliss.ketchum@gmail.com
School Partner: Evergreen Middle School, Hillsboro
Teacher Partner: Lia Cunningham
Research: The Effectiveness of Vertebrate Passage & Prevention Structures: a study of Boeckman Road in Wilsonville, The Influence of Artificail Light on Animal Use of Passages, Assessing the Barrier Effect of Roads.
Advisor: Dr. Cat de Rivera, Environmental Science and Mangement
Degree: Phd in Environmental Science and Management
Bio
Leslie Bliss-Ketchum is a Ph.D. student at Portland State University in the Environmental Science & Management Program. She received her Bachelors of Science, also at PSU, in Environmental Science with a minor in Biology and graduated Cum Laude in 2007. Leslie's research is focused on how wildlife communities interact with the road network. She has and continues to conduct research on wildlife and road interactions including road mortality, response to artificial light, response to road size and traffic volume as well as efforts to mitigate negative road effects through wildlife undercrossing structures coupled with exclusion fencing.Her research interests focus on discovering and enhancing wildlife linkages, particularly in urban habitats. Leslie is currently serving as Vice President of the Oregon Chapter of The Wildlife Society and is excited to be serving on the Sustainability Committee for the 2012 national Wildlife Society conference to be held in Portland, Oregon. She has participated in several internships with organizations and agencies such as Americorps, the city of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services and the city of Hillsboro as well as maintaining positions in student-run clubs such as Senior Director of the Student Water Resources Group and Co-President of the ESM Graduate Student Association.
Shahan Derkarabetian
E-mail: shahan@pdx.edu
School Partner: Cleveland High School, Portland
Teacher Partner: Kimberly Crowell
Research: Comparative phylogeny of Pacific Northwest endemic Arachnid Harvestmen.
Advisor: Dr. Susan Masta, Biology
Degree: Phd in Biology
Bio
I am starting my second year as a PhD student in the Biology Department. My research focuses on the systematics and evolution of harvestmen, which are a group of arachnids. I use a combination of molecular and morphological data to answer interesting questions about this group. Before Portland State, I received my Master's Degree in Evolutionary Biology from San Diego State. My general interests include anything outdoors and anything nerdy.
Ted Hart
E-mail: hartt@pdx.edu
School Partner: Mt. Tabor Middle School, Portland
Teacher Partner: Kirk Ordway
Research: Green street taxanomy and ecosystem services.
Advisor: Dr. Joe Maser, Environmental Science and Management
Degree: Phd in Environmental Science and Management
Bio
Ted is interested in how various stormwater green street characteristics (ex. different vegetation types) affect ecosystem services (ex. infiltration, cooling). Over 1000 stormwater green streets (ex. bioswales) are being surveying in Portland where the highest number of such urban low impact developments exist. Metrics include: location, size, vegetation types, identification, and aesthetics (ex. number of flower days). Also, specific species root distribution will be correlated to infiltration rates in 30 representative facilities. Thus, two ecosystem services (aesthetics and infiltration) will be determined for the most common Portland stormwater green street plant species (ex. Juncus patens).
Andrew Harwood
E-mail: andrewharwood36@hotmail.com
School Partner: Franklin High School, Portland
Teacher Partner: Megan Whisnan
Research: Coastal erosion management and the impacts of mangrove introduction and removal on native near-shore coral reef communities.
Advisor: Dr. Elise Granek, Environmental Science and Management
Degree: Phd in Environmental Science and Management
Bio
The Small has an amazing ability to teach us, and help us understand The Big. In 2010 I completed my Master’s degree at Washington State University’s Salmonid Genetics Lab looking at how the smallest changes in DNA (SNPs) can be used to detect hybridization between native and non-native trout (Harwood and Phillips, 2011). During hybridization, genes that code for local adaptations can be replaced by non-native/non-local genes, and this can threaten the long-term survivability of big populations and the genetic purity of the native species as a whole. My international collaboration with Simon Fraser University, in BC, mapped the sex chromosomes in brown trout (Li et. al., 2011). During that research, I continued to follow my passion for marine biology by assisting the Marine Ecology Lab at WSU Vancouver as an AAUS Scientific SCUBA Diver as they monitored the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) off of the Kona Coast of the island of Hawaii (Stevenson et. al. 2011). For my PhD at PSU I am particularly interested in studying how management practices, like introducing non-native mangroves for erosion control, can influence the biotic and abiotic factors, and species interactions on near-shore reefs and native coastal communities around the Pacific.
Christine Kendrick
E-mail: kendrick.christine@gmail.com
School Partner: Gresham High School, Gresham
Teacher Partner: Kathy Childress
Research: Interaction of traffic dynamics, urban street design, and roadway barriers on non-auto commuter exposure to ultrafine particles.
Advisor: Dr. Linda George, Environmental Science and Management
Degree: Phd in Environmental Science and Management
Bio
Christine Kendrick is an Environmental Science and Management PhD student specializing in air quality. Her research focuses on the environmental and public health impacts of traffic in urban corridors. She is currently investigating personal exposures to traffic air pollutants as a function of travel mode and the built environment. In 2008, she received a BS in Environmental Health Science from the College of Public Health at The University of Georgia. Her past research includes sampling and analyzing headspace vapor composition of various fuel types to determine potential health hazards while at UGA.
Meena Rao
E-mail: mrao@pdx.edu
School Partner: Lent Middle School, Portland
Teacher Partner: Amy Sutton
Research: Spatial and temporal variation of NO2 in the urban environment and mitigation of harmful effects
Advisor: Dr. Linda George, Environmental Science and Management
Degree: Phd in Environmental Science and Management
Bio
I am currently a second year PhD student at Portland State University in the Environmental Science and Management department. My research focuses on the ecology of algae in shallow lakes and will be researching the influence of wetlands adjacent to shallow lakes on the groups of algae that live in the lake waters. Before beginning my PhD project I received a Master of Science from Portland state for research about the influence of water from marshes on the photosynthesis of algae.
Overall my passion in science is mainly for teaching science topics and inquiry science lessons. While I very much enjoy researching scientific questions about shallow lake ecology, my goal is to work as a university professor when I finish my PhD research.
Sally Rogers
E-mail: srrogers@pdx.edu
School Partner: Gresham High School, Gresham
Teacher Partner: Doug Goodwin
Research: Sex-specific competitive effects in Distichlis spicata and the relationship with Mycorrhizal fungi.
Advisor: Dr. Sarah Eppley, Biology
Degree: Phd in Biology
Bio
I am a third year PhD students in the Department of Biology at Portland State University. I work in Dr. Sarah Eppley’s lab, which focuses on plant ecology and evolution. My research focus is on ecological and physiological differences between males and females in populations of Distichlis spicata, a perennial saltgrass that exhibits extreme sexual segregation. I am interested in how these sex-specific differences affect the mating system of this flowering plant and pollen dispersal within natural populations. I received my BS in Biology from Portland State University in 2009, during which time I investigated invasive plant species distributions and sex-specific differences in plant populations.
Kit Rouhe
E-mail: kitrouhe@hotmail.com
School Partner: Lent Middle School, Portland
Teacher Partner: Laurie McDowell
Research: The relationship between algal assemblages in a river-marsh-lake ecosystem.
Advisor: Dr. John Rueter, Environmental Science and Management
Degree: Phd in Environmental Science and Management
Bio
I am currently a second year PhD student at Portland State University in the Environmental Science and Management department. My research focuses on the ecology of algae in shallow lakes and will be researching the influence of wetlands adjacent to shallow lakes on the groups of algae that live in the lake waters. Before beginning my PhD project I received a Master of Science from Portland state for research about the influence of water from marshes on the photosynthesis of algae.
Erin Shortlidge
E-mail: eshort@pdx.edu
School Partner: da Vinci middle school
Teacher Partner: Jim Hashimoto
Research: Bryophyte mating systems: biotic and abiotic influences on complex mating systems in mosses.
Advisor: Dr. Sarah Eppley, Biology
Degree: Phd in Biology
Bio
Erin is beginning her third year as a PhD student in the Biology Department at Portland State University in Dr. Sarah Eppley's Plant Ecology Lab. She is interested in investigating ecology from a reductionist perspective that begins in the bryosphere. Her focus is on the ecological and physiological factors that influence sexual reproduction in mosses. Erin received her BFA with Distinction in Dance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She continued to dance professionally, choreograph and teach for many years. Chicago is where her transition from dancer to scientist began, and it has since solidified in Portland over the last four years.