Baylee Olds
Graduate Student, Department of Geology and Geophysics
I am a graduate student at the Department of Geology and Geophysics, under the advisement of Dr. Paul Brooks. My research focuses on the spatial variability of snow accumulation and ablation due to elevation, aspect, and vegetation. The sensitivity of water vapor loss from the snowpack to the atmosphere due to greater energy availability in response to climate change is poorly characterized. Investigating this snowpack loss and the resulting net snow water input available to streams, groundwater, soil, and lakes will improve predictions of snowmelt-driven water supplies, which will then better inform water management. Therefore, it is vital to understand how warmer temperatures and earlier snowmelt lead to greater vapor losses or changes in the partitioning of the snowpack to melt and how and why this vapor loss varies spatially.