Bergit Uhran

Coursework: Quantitative Methods, Remote Sensing, Environmental Modeling, Statistics for Researchers, Seminar in GIScience, Colloquium

Research Focus: Small Area Estimation of US Forests through a cooperative agreement (2022-2024) with the US Forest Service.

Master of Science in Environmental Science and Policy, with a concentration on Environmental Management. This unique degree program blends environmental science with public and environmental policy. Coursework included environmental GIS, marine ecology, disease ecology, wetland ecology and management, wetland field lab, natural resource law, public administration/non-profit management, energy policy, public policy process, environmental policy (2 courses: one tracing policy development, the other covering related science topics), applied ecology/ecosystem management, and corporate environmental policy. Special topics included integrated pest management, wetland creation/restoration/preservation, ecosystem services, zoonotic disease, and the connection between environmental and human health.

Bachelor of Art’s degree in Environmental Science, minoring in Chemistry (36 credits in Chemistry department). Coursework focused on the four core areas of environmental science (ecology, hydrology, atmosphere/weather, and geology), field and bench lab work, department elective courses in oceanography, aquariums/fisheries, and marine ecology, and required courses in calculus, physics, and biology. Electives included Spanish, computer science, sociology, and anthropology.

Graduate research assistant under Dr Nicholas Nagle through a cooperative agreement with the US Forest Service. Research will include small area estimation of US forests, including US mangrove forests.

Assist with one undergraduate lecture course and lead two laboratory sections per semester in the geography department. GTAs are the main contact for students in large courses and hold office hours, provide supplementary instruction, clarify policies, coordinate with ill students, demonstrate laboratory exercises, and grade assignments/exams in a timely manner.

AWARD: University of Tennessee Department of Geography Primary Lead Publication Award, May 2022.

• Created and validated carbon density model for CONUS wetlands . Demonstrated expertise in analyzing, visualizing, and modeling large data sets including the Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO), National Landcover Data Base (NLCD), and National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA). Research published as Uhran et al., 2021a. Data set published on USGS sciencebase as Uhran et al., 2022.

• Led a team of scientists to develop a chapter on wetland carbon conditions for an AGU Books monograph on wetlands. Chapter focuses on land use/land use change, fire management, and other wetland management topics. This work will be used as a primer on the subject for scientists, policy makers, and land managers (Uhran et al, 2021b).

Hired as a contractor to Land Resources through the student contractor program while studying at George Mason University.

• Co-organized Alaska Wetland Soil Moisture Mapping and Validation Workshop in Fairbanks, AK, 2019, and published a summary in Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) newsletter. Workshop included two days of research presentations and three days of field visits to remote wetland sites in the Alaskan interior.

• Collected and catalogued figure and dataset metadata for the Second State of the Carbon Cycle (SOCCR2) interagency report (https://carbon2018.globalchange.gov/) as a member of the SOCCR2 Website 1.0 developer team.

• Authored white papers and preformed data analysis for USGS LandCarbon program on topics related to fire management, fire ecology, the carbon cycle, and coastal processes. Provided data analysis and visualization (R, Python, ArcMap) as a member of the USGS Wetland Carbon Working Group.

• Began research project which lead to the publication of a research paper (Uhran et al., 2021a), a monograph chapter (Uhran et al, 2021b) and a data set (Uhran et al., 2022). Project presented orally at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference, December 2019.

Wrote a detailed policy analysis identifying challenges for adoption of electric vehicles, benefits of electric vehicles, and promising policies at the state and national level for submission to Virginia government and consideration in 2018 Virginia Energy Plan. Analyzed green energy commitments for localities in Virginia to help design renewable energy campaign strategies for Sierra Club.

Researched domestic and international regulations, laws, treaties, and policies affecting planetary protection. This information was analyzed in a paper (Uhran et al., 2019) on planetary protection as it applies to samples that may be returned from Mars, highlighting the need for international and interagency cooperation on matters of biosafety and biosecurity.