CCEE graduate student travels to Alaska for USGS CASC fellowship

Fairbanks, Alaska, experienced record-breaking snowfall while Johnson was visiting.

Ph.D. candidate Megan Johnson, advised by Dr. Fernando Garcia Menendez, traveled to Alaska for seven weeks in April and May as part of her Science to Action Fellowship with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC). The fellowship program allows graduate students to collaborate with USGS mentors to work on high-priority, real-world challenges in natural resources, and travel to work at their mentor’s CASC office. Johnson’s research focuses on air quality engineering, and she is analyzing how smoke from wildfires and prescribed fires impacts air quality and human health. 

Johnson’s mentor is Jeremy Littell, a research ecologist at the Alaska CASC. While in Alaska, Johnson interacted with staff of the Alaska CASC and the Alaska Fire Science Consortium, and took part in Research to Operations workshops as part of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) science team meeting. She traveled to the 2019 Swan Lake wildfire burn scar to meet with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff and install meteorological and soil sensors as part of a project to monitor post-fire regrowth within the area. 

As part of the trip, Johnson traveled to the 2019 Swan Lake wildfire burn scar to meet with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff and install meteorological and soil sensors as part of a project to monitor post-fire regrowth within the area.

Johnson was excited to learn more about fire and climate in Alaska and see how CASC staff work directly with various partners.

“The fellowship has provided me with a lot of opportunities to interact with a variety of fire professionals and scientists in the Southeast and in Alaska, which has been invaluable in shaping and improving my research projects,” Johnson said. “Mentorship from Dr. Littell, specifically, has also been really helpful as I start to think of transitioning into a career after my Ph.D.”

Johnson spent the majority of her time in Fairbanks, Alaska, on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. While in Alaska, she had several opportunities to experience the natural beauty of the state. 

“I caught the end of the Aurora Season — it was incredible to see the northern lights, even just from town.”

Johnson went on a tour of Resurrection Bay, where she saw humpback and grey whales, sea otters, porpoises, and mountain goats.

Johnson said one of her favorite parts of the trip was visiting Denali National Park. 

“I went for a weekend before the tourist season started. It was quiet and beautiful. Denali wasn’t visible while I was there, but I got to meet the Denali canine park rangers (sled dogs), and I definitely consider that to be a highlight of the trip.”