Each year, the Midwest CASC directly supports several graduate students and postdoctoral researchers pursuing climate adaptation research at our consortium member universities. Get to know former students and postdocs below!
View currently affiliated students and postdocs.
Former MW CASC Graduate Students
2024-2025 Cohort
| Name | Institution | Research Area |
|---|---|---|
| Johnny Baakliny | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Challenges & opportunities for adaptation. |
| Emma Blackford | University of Wisconsin-Madison | Altered hydrological regimes. |
| Miao He | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | Challenges & opportunities for adaptation. |
| Lance Jones | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Loss of winter. |
| Whitney Sansom | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | Novel terrestrial landscapes. |
| Eva Schwarz | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | Climate change effects to soil fungal communities. |
| Shotaro Shiratsuru | University of Wisconsin-Madison | Novel terrestrial landscapes. |
| Nicole Spanier | Indiana University | Heavy precipitation events and drought. |
| Narda Trivino Silva | Michigan State University | Novel terrestrial landscapes. |
2023-2024 Cohort
| Name | Institution | Research Area |
|---|---|---|
| Jacy Bernath-Plaisted | University of Wisconsin-Madison | Novel terrestrial landscapes. |
| Katherine Charton | University of Wisconsin-Madison | Loss of winter. |
| Marinna Guzy | Michigan State University | Altered hydrological regimes. |
| Shasta Kamara | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Altered hydrological regimes. |
| Makayla Ohrberg | Indiana University | Novel terrestrial landscapes. |
| Daniel Szydlowski | University of Wisconsin-Madison | Altered hydrological regimes. |
| Ichchha Thapa | Michigan State University | Challenges & opportunities for adaptation. |
| Joe Young | Michigan State University | Novel terrestrial landscapes. |
2022-2023 Cohort
| Name | Institution | Research Area |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Benson | Indiana University | Heavy precipitation events and drought. |
| Rafael Davila | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Altered hydrological regimes. |
| Joe Mrnak | University of Wisconsin-Madison | Altered hydrological regimes. |
| Matthew Smith | University of Wisconsin-Madison | Novel terrestrial landscapes. |
| Mayra Velasquez | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | Altered hydrological regimes. |
| Rohini Vembar | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Altered hydrological regimes. |
| Joe Young | Michigan State University | Novel terrestrial landscapes. |
Former MW CASC Postdoctoral Researchers
Synthesis Project Leads
| Photo | Bio |
|---|---|
| Primary tabsDiele (Dee) Lobo was the postdoctoral researcher leading the MW CASC’s first synthesis research project based at host University of Minnesota, which assessed the current state of climate change adaptation planning in the Midwest region with an emphasis on sectors that relate to natural resource management and conservation. Dee is a conservation scientist with expertise in human dimensions of natural resources management and conservation. She values an actionable and transdisciplinary approach to science. |
MW CASC-IonE Postdoctoral Associates
| Photo | Bio |
|---|---|
| Primary tabsSam Reed (he/him) has always had a passion for understanding change. As an Institute on the Environment Postdoctoral Fellow, he worked on two solutions-oriented projects that focus on understanding and sharing how we can best change in response to a warming planet. The first project, in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, investigated how we can help ecosystems adapt to a changing climate. The second project, in partnership with the Midwest Carbon Leadership Project, focused on deep decarbonization within the energy and agricultural sectors. |
| Jaris Emmanuel Veneros Guevara (he/him) is an Agronomist with a Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Environmental Sciences. He focuses on GIS and Remote Sensing for Global Change. He uses invertebrates, vertebrates, plants, ecosystems, and ecoregions to learn more about climate change. |
| Amy Waananen is an ecologist with research interests in landscape ecology, plant-pollinator interactions, and adaptation. Waananen has a PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from the University of Minnesota, where she studied how native plant populations might persist amid ongoing habitat fragmentation and climate change. At the Institute on the Environment, Waananen worked with the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center to develop understanding around how management choices, such promoting landscape connectivity, can improve species’ abilities to shift in space or persist in place to cope with climate change. |