Student Experiences

Sasha bridges environmental science and GIS in her accelerated B.A./Master’s Program in geography at Clark University. No stranger to field work, in the summer of 2022, she partook in an REU focusing on spatial modeling of electoral districting with the University of Washington, Tacoma and the University of Puget Sound. This research streamlined a measurement of gerrymandering as well examined the general community districting affects on the livelihoods of citizens. Earlier, in her junior year, Sasha traveled to Bhutan to participate in a project with the School of Field Studies, Bhutan Ecological Society, and Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment. Her coursework oriented around Himalayan development and mountain ecology, based on Bhutan’s strict isolation up until 1974; she also helped track the tiger population throughout the Himalayas. Sasha finds the most fulfillment at the intersection of conservation biology and GIS, and in a broader sense, through field work, which is what made the Tracking Land Change program a perfect fit. Despite her previous REU experience, Sasha acknowledged that River Ridge Ranch is quite special. “[We get to] live here, doing field work instead of in a lab at a university,” she explains. Sasha hopes to follow Professor Mystyn Mill’s continued work with squirrels at River Ridge Ranch, but says she’ll be content in any position that helps her evade a deskbound, computer-oriented career.