We’re excited to welcome three new researchers to the Institute of the Environment!
Dr. Emma Underwood is a new researcher at the Institute. A central theme of her research is the application of geospatial tools to address biodiversity and conservation issues and inform environmental decision-making. Her research interests include evaluating ecosystem services, conservation assessments of biodiversity, estimating conservation return on investment, and mapping and predicting the distribution of invasive plant species. During the past 15 years Emma’s research has spanned multiple spatial scales from sites to ecoregions and has focused on a variety of ecosystems including tropical forests in central Africa, Mediterranean-type habitats globally, the central coast and Sierra Nevada of California, and the Mojave Desert. Prior to UC Davis, she worked for the World Wildlife Fund-US and since then has undertaken collaborative research with The Nature Conservancy, the US Geological Survey, and the US Forest Service. Emma received her Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis.
Dr. Patrick Huber is a Project Scientist at the Institute. He was awarded a Ph.D. in Geography from UC Davis in 2008. Since that time he has held a Postdoc position with UC Davis before being hired as a Project Scientist. His work as a conservation scientist has touched on a variety of topics including regional conservation planning, wildlife connectivity, mitigating transportation impacts on the environment, working landscapes and agricultural production systems, and conservation informatics. He has served as lead or site Principal Investigator on projects funded by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Nature Conservancy, and Sacramento Area Council of Governments. Currently, his work focuses on two themes: organizing a global Internet of Conservation, and facilitating the expansion of ecologically friendly meat production systems in northern California and nationally. He also uses his skills and knowledge locally as a longtime member of the City of Davis Open Space and Habitat Commission as well as serving as the City of Davis representative on the Lower Putah Creek Coordinating Committee.
Dr. Allan D. Hollander is a Geographic Information Systems Programmer at the Institute. He is a geographer whose work focuses on the use of information systems for environmental management. Areas of emphasis include spatial analyses of land cover and species distribution patterns, statistical analysis of large environmental datasets using multivariate techniques and machine learning approaches, and developing systems and standards for sharing environmental information, making use of digital cataloging systems and semantic web technologies. Common across this work is his use of a wide variety of open-source technologies ranging from geographic information systems to web development platforms.