Environment and Resources PhD Candidate
Forest Scenarios Project

Jessica's research interests center on the potential effects of climate change and resource demand on biodiversity and ecological functions (especially ecosystem goods and services) in forest ecosystems.

In a collaborative project with the Nature Conservancy (TNC), Jessica is working with local and regional experts to build and model landscape scenarios to evaluate the effectiveness of various conservation strategies under climate change conditions. This work aims to enable conservation practitioners and decision-makers to compare the potential outcomes of different conservation strategies and make informed decisions about how to best utilize scarce financial resources and reduce the risks associated with the implementation of innovative strategies.

Jessica is currently a Teaching Assistant for the Biocore honors program at UW-Madison and a Student Representative for the Environment and Resources PhD program in the Nelson Institute. She has served as a Student Representative of the U.S. Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (US-IALE). Before arriving in Madison, Jessica worked as a scientific writer and editor at the University of Chicago and as Assistant to the Director of the Tongass Conservation Society in Ketchikan, Alaska. In her free time, Jessica enjoys knitting, cooking, hiking, traveling, and photography.