Tidepooling interdisciplinary environmental scientist
Tidepooling interdisciplinary environmental scientist
CIRES Fellow Katherine Siegel is an assistant professor of Geography who uses interdisciplinary approaches to study wildfires, land use change, and ecological transformations. Previously, she studied small-scale fisheries management and coral reef conservation, and during that time, she got to do fieldwork in Montserrat, an island in the Caribbean. Siegel loves to go tidepooling — and if she could be any animal (extinct or alive), she would be a marmot because “they spend their time hanging out in alpine areas, sunbathing, and admiring the views.”
Left: Katherine backpacking in the Weminuche Wilderness in Colorado.
Middle: Katherine visiting Colorado National Monument.
Right: After finishing her PhD, Katherine solo-hiked the Nüümü Poyo (John Muir Trail).
Humans of CIRES Q&A
Q: What do you study at CIRES?
My research group uses interdisciplinary approaches to understand how working landscapes — social-ecological systems where biodiversity supports human lives, livelihoods, and well-being — are changing. Much of our current work focuses on wildfires: how they are changing ecosystems in the western US, and how we can help ecosystems and human communities adapt to a future with more fire.
Q: Where is the most exciting place you’ve traveled for your research/job?
I used to study small-scale fisheries management and coral reef conservation, and I did fieldwork in Montserrat, an island in the Caribbean that is home to the critically endangered mountain chicken (a frog species) and an active volcano.
Q: If you could be any animal (extinct or alive), what would you be and why?
A marmot. They spend their time hanging out in alpine areas, sunbathing, and admiring the views.
Q: Tell us about a hobby of yours.
Tidepooling! I don't get to do it much here, but when I lived in California, I loved to go to the coast and look for nudibranchs, sea stars, and other colorful tidepool critters.