Julia Evered
Discovering post-restoration ecosysten dynamics of restored wetlands
Wetlands in the San Francisco Bay-Delta have been threatened by encroaching development, climate change and other environmental factors. Local organization and agencies have provided significant efforts to protect and restore the large amount of wetland ecosystems lost over a century of development. For several years, Dronova Lab has been collecting and analyzing vegetation data in the San Francisco Bay-Delta in order to provide quantitative support for restoration effort in the San Francisco Bay-Delta by identifying factors that can promote restoration success at the site and landscape scale. This critical knowledge could then be used by local organizations and agencies to improve the planning and design of future projects. Through a combination of field assessment and analysis of satellite imagery, we can better understand the factors that contribute to a restoration projects success, or what might trigger a projects failure. This summer I will be continuing this research, with a focus on how vegetative patches in the Delta grow and change over time. This analysis is important because it provides valuable information to restoration organizations in order for them to fulfill specific design goal, such as providing wildlife habitat or creating productive wetlands for carbon sequestration.
Message To Sponsor
This research has helped shape my goals for the future, and has reinvigorated my love for ecology and the wonders of the environment. The research, specifically the field work, that I have had the opportunity to be involved in has changed the way I interact with my everyday landscapes. It has given me a new lens to see the field of Environmental Planning, and has reconnected me with environmental functions that can be overlooked. This research has impacted me and my academic aspirations, and has provided me with grand opportunities that have paved a path for my future. I am internally grateful to Dronova Lab for providing me with this opportunity, and the URAP program for connected me to such an excellent research lab.