Dr. Derek Kauneckis is an affiliated associate research faculty in the Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at the Desert Research Institute and associate professor of environmental studies at Ohio University. His research focuses on regional environmental governance, how people interact with environmental resources, and the emergence of cooperative institutions. He has examined behavioral and institutional components of resilience planning, climate policy networks, and the role of technology in the science/policy interface. His research has been published in the Journal of Coastal Management, Simulation & Gaming, Environmental Management, Studies in Comparative International Development, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, among others. Dr. Kauneckis currently serves as an Advisory Committee Member for the Department of Homeland Security’s Resilient Investment Planning and Development Working Group, and leads the Advisory Group on Professional Education for the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP). Dr. Kauneckis’ research has been sponsored by Fulbright, National Science Foundation (NSF), National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Agriculture (USDA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Stephanie McAfee
Dr. McAfee’s research is an applied climatologist with experience in analyzing both historical climate and projections of future climate and in applying that information to resource management and conservation questions. She has worked on questions ranging from bias propagation within coupled models to the production of downscaled snow projections for Alaska and has a strong interest in climate services and public outreach.
Dilek Uz
Dr. Dilek Uz is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics in the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno. She received her Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 2016.
Thomas Harris
Dr. Thomas Harris is a Foundation Professor in the Department of Economics in the College of Business, has a research appointment in Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station in the College Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Natural Resources; State Extension Specialists in Community and Economic Development in the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension; and the Director of the University Center for Economic Development at the University of Nevada, Reno. Dr. Harris has been at UNR since 1981 and his primary areas of teaching, research and extension are rural economic development, economic impact modeling, and local government finance. Dr. Harris’ research covers the economic and fiscal impacts of changes in public land grazing policies and surface water reallocations. Tom was co-editor of a published book titled Targeted Regional Economic Development, and, recently, worked on the Stronger Economies Together Project covering the Western Nevada Development District. Also Dr. Harris is a Fellow with the Western Rural Development Center.
Mary Cablk
Dr. Mary E. Cablk is an Emeritus Faculty at DRI. She is an expert in detection and systems. In her research she draws upon knowledge from multiple fields such as olfaction, analytical chemistry, learning, cognitive and industrial/occupational psychology, forensics, spatial analysis, pattern analysis, and image processing. Her interests focus on transforming qualitative observation into quantitative data and combining multiple input data types to solve complex challenges related to detection, in a field setting. Her research and expertise has taken her around the world where she has addressed audiences and worked with colleagues on landmine detection, wildlife detection, recovery of human remains, and search and rescue, among others. She works closely with relevant agencies and organizations on development and implementation of credentialing and standards for canine teams in a variety of disciplines. Dr. Cablk has been instrumental in developing a Ph.D. program in forensic anthropology at the University of Nevada Reno, where she is an adjunct professor and mentors graduate students. She is an auxiliary deputy with several county Sheriff Offices in the State of Nevada and is a resource to the State of California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Expert in remote sensing including olfaction and optical. Uses quantitative methods from multiple input data types to conduct scientific analyses related to detection, including spatial analyses.
Haroon Stephen
Dr. Stephen has diverse research experience in the areas of Remote Sensing, GIS, and GPS applications. His Ph.D. research involved the modeling of microwave scattering and emission behavior of electromagnetic waves over Saharan sand surfaces and Amazon vegetation. His ongoing research interests include applications of remote sensing and GIS technologies to water resource mapping; drought study; and climate change study. Presently, he is involved in several Federal and State sponsored research projects involving geospatial data research and applications. I am also developing a geovisualization facility at UNLV that will provide state-of-the-art visualization for the research and educational needs of UNLV and the region.
His research involves development of Remote Sensing and GIS technologies and their application to Natural Resource Mapping. This includes modeling of microwave remote sensing measurements of backscatter and radiometric temperature to understand spatial and temporal interconnections of geomorphology, vegetation, hydrology, ecology, and water resources.
Douglas Boyle
Dr. Boyle is a watershed hydrologist with over 25 years of experience in the field of hydrology and water resources with an emphasis in the development, implementation, and evaluation of complex computer-based hydrologic models to simulate watershed response to precipitation (rainfall and snowmelt). Integrated computer-based modeling of hydrologic processes to understand the impacts of historic and future climate on water resources in arid and semi-arid environments using paleoclimate information (e.g., pluvial lake shore dating, tree ring records and other climate indicators), global climate model estimates (e.g., paleo, historic, and future precipitation and temperature estimates from both statistical and dynamically downscaled studies), and instrumental ground-based information (e.g., NWS Co-op data, NRCS SNOTEL data, and PRISM data sets). Additional research interests include streamflow forecasting, water leasing and banking, water markets, GIS, remote sensing, parameter estimation and uncertainty analysis, and automated multi-criteria optimization. Dr. Boyle is a former Director of the Nevada Water Resources Research Institute.
Franco Biondi
Prof. Franco Biondi received a Laurea (Italian Doctorate) in forestry from the Università di Firenze in 1985, and a Ph.D. in watershed management and geosciences from the University of Arizona, Tucson in 1994. He is now a Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he is also the DendroLab Director, and a member of three interdisciplinary graduate programs: Environmental Sciences, Hydrologic Sciences, and Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology.
Together with his students and colleagues, he has conducted research projects in North America and Italy. He has received funding from the National Science Foundation (including a CAREER award in 2002-2008 and an EAGER award in 2012-2014), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Geographic Society.
Robert Futrell
Robert Futrell (Professor, Sociology) specializes in areas that include: social movements and social change, environmental sociology, urban sustainability, and science and technology. His environmental research focuses on sustainability, climate change, and urban life in the U.S. desert southwest. His current social movement scholarship focuses on the cultural and organizational dynamics of movement persistence. Dr. Futrell has also received several teaching awards including the UNLV Foundation Distinguished Teaching Award. Dr. Futrell joined the UNLV faculty in 1999.
Scott Bassett
Dr. Bassett is a conservation biologist and geographic information systems specialist with over 15 years experience in using computers to address environmental planning issues. He has extensive experience in spatial modeling, habitat modeling, landscape ecology, military installation encroachment issues, urban/natural environment boundary and in conservation reserve assessment and planning.