DGESL : About : Stephanie McAfee

Background

While earning degrees from Dartmouth and the University of Washington College of Forest Resources, I learned about the importance of place and scale in the natural world – that the processes that form mountains act on an altogether different stage than those that shape forests. But it was while working on organic farms and with a sustainable urban agriculture organization that I really began to appreciate the importance of scale in how people interact with the environment. Time and again, I saw that people were able to understand environmental change most clearly when their frame of reference was small and familiar. All of which left me with a dilemma. I’m fascinated by big picture questions, but I want my work to be accessible and societally relevant. Studying climate change impacts on natural resources allows me to do both.

Research

The best projections of climate change are from global models, but resource planning occurs at local and region scales. My research focuses on creating a bridge between the circulation patterns that can be described by GCMs and the local-scale responses to climate change that resource managers are concerned about and that the public can relate to. In particular, I am investigating the relationship between atmospheric patterns and winter precipitation in the Four Corners region. Using instrumental and proxy data, along with climate and ecosystem models, I am reconstructing watershed-scale patterns of variability in precipitation and the ecological and hydrological responses resulting from them. The Southwest has been experiencing rapid population growth, straining the largely arid region’s water resources and expanding into wildland areas. It is also a diverse region with high plateaus, major river valleys, and numerous mountain ranges, supporting an amazing diversity of ecosystems. Locally explicit projections of river flow or wildfire probability will allow for better planning and management to protect resources while meeting the needs of the human population. Centering climate change on a smaller stage will also, I hope, provide the general public with a more concrete perception of climate change.

	Stephanie McAfee Ph.D. Student M.S. University of Washington 2002 B.A. Dartmouth College 1998 Office: Gould-Simpson Room 350 Telephone Number: 1.520.621.8025 Office: Gould-Simpson Room 301 Telephone Number: 1.520.621.4385 E-mail Address: smcafee@email.arizona.edu	Mailing Address 1040 E. Fourth St. Department of Geosciences University of Arizona Gould-Simpson Room 208 Tucson, AZ 85721-0077 Telephone Number 1.520.621.8025 Facsimile Number 1.520.621.2672


Background While earning degrees from Dartmouth and the University of Washington College of Forest Resources, I learned about the importance of place and scale in the natural world – that the processes that form mountains act on an altogether different stage than those that shape forests. But it was while working on organic farms and with a sustainable urban agriculture organization that I really began to appreciate the importance of scale in how people interact with the environment. Time and again, I saw that people were able to understand environmental change most clearly when their frame of reference was small and familiar. All of which left me with a dilemma. I’m fascinated by big picture questions, but I want my work to be accessible and societally relevant. Studying climate change impacts on natural resources allows me to do both. Research The best projections of climate change are from global models, but resource planning occurs at local and region scales. My research focuses on creating a bridge between the circulation patterns that can be described by GCMs and the local-scale responses to climate change that resource managers are concerned about and that the public can relate to. In particular, I am investigating the relationship between atmospheric patterns and winter precipitation in the Four Corners region. Using instrumental and proxy data, along with climate and ecosystem models, I am reconstructing watershed-scale patterns of variability in precipitation and the ecological and hydrological responses resulting from them. The Southwest has been experiencing rapid population growth, straining the largely arid region’s water resources and expanding into wildland areas. It is also a diverse region with high plateaus, major river valleys, and numerous mountain ranges, supporting an amazing diversity of ecosystems. Locally explicit projections of river flow or wildfire probability will allow for better planning and management to protect resources while meeting the needs of the human population. Centering climate change on a smaller stage will also, I hope, provide the general public with a more concrete perception of climate change.