Topic: Environment
Keah Schuenemann
Keah Schuenemann, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her areas of expertise include climate change, Greenland, climate, sea ice, and weather. She teaches Dynamic Meteorology, Synoptic Meteorology, Global Climate Change, and Physics and Chemistry for Elementary Education Majors.
Schuenemann has taught at MSU Denver since 2010 and is the director of the General Studies program. She has co-authored several papers, including “Synoptic Forcing of Precipitation Over Greenland: Climatology for 1961–99” and “Changes in Synoptic Weather Patterns and Greenland Precipitation in the 20th and 21st Centuries.” Schuenemann studies the large-scale weather around the Greenland Ice Sheet, the effects of recent climate changes on these weather patterns, and the state of the ice sheet and its contribution to sea-level rise.
More recently, she began studying how Arctic sea-ice extent affects midlatitude weather patterns, which are potentially responsible for recent droughts and cold-air outbreaks. Schuenemann is also interested in the topic of communicating climate change, the misconceptions about climate change, and developing a pedagogy on teaching climate change based on current communicating of climate-change research. She is passionate about promoting science literacy and critical thinking in the sciences.
Schuenemann received her doctorate and her master’s in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2008 and 2006, respectively, and a bachelor’s in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science from the University of Wisconsin in 2004.
Sam Ng
Sam Ng, Ph.D., is a professor of meteorology at Metropolitan State University of Denver where he’s been teaching for over a decade. His research includes regional and local climate changes, mesoscale convective systems, winter weather phenomenon, rapid cyclogenesis, occlusion process, quantitative precipitation forecasting and numerical weather prediction.
Leanna Mathews
Leanna Matthews, Ph.D., is an affiliate professor in the Department of Biology at Metropolitan State University of Denver. In addition to teaching at MSU Denver, she is the assistant director for the Sound Science Research Collective, a nonprofit organization focused on using acoustics to address marine mammal conservation concerns.
In 2019, Mathews participated in a study conducting field work to learn more about the communication patterns of humpback whales off the southeastern coast of Alaska. She worked with other biologist to collect above-water and underwater data to see how whales responded to certain sounds. Her research areas center around marine biology and animal behavior. Matthews areas of expertise include animal behavior, marine mammals, bioacoustics, animal communication and impacts of noise on acoustic communication.
Mathews received her Ph.D. in biology from Syracuse University in 2017, and her bachelor’s degree in biology from Baylor University in 2011.
Uwe Kackstaetter
Uwe Richard Kackstaetter, Ph.D., is a professor of geology at Metropolitan State University of Denver. His expertise spans two continents from environmental testing of drinking water wells, groundwater flow modeling, site contaminant evaluations, as well as geologic and hydrologic field investigations.
As an educator, he taught in college and secondary classrooms, where he conducted numerous national and international geological field courses. Kackstaetter received the prestigious 2014 Faculty Senate teacher of the year award from MSU Denver. His current interests are in developing various practical approaches as advanced tools for the geosciences, such as automated percolation water testers, new wavelength dependent night prospecting tools, improved processes of rock and mineral thin sectioning, and clay mineral analytical processing and computations.
Kackstaetter, received his master’s in Geology from BYU, Provo and his Ph.D. in applied geology and mineralogy from the University of Würzburg, Germany.
See also http://college.earthscienceeducation.net/page2.html
Hollie Hendrikson
Hollie Hendrikson, M.A., is an affiliate professor in the Department of Political Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Hendrikson has over 12 years of experience working with government agencies, legislatures, advocacy organizations, academic institutions and research think tanks to develop data-driven policies for municipalities, states and organizations. She has worked with several communities to develop data-driven strategic plans that create opportunities for affordable housing. In addition, she ran a small consulting firm that specialized in social policy research and strategic planning, qualitative and quantitative research projects and developed policy options for governments. In this role, she also worked with clients to successfully complete and submit HUD Consolidated Plans and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice.
Her other previous experience includes working at the National Conference of State Legislatures where she led the organization’s public health policy work. During her tenure at NCSL, she provided technical assistance to legislatures in all 50 states, facilitated policy planning conversations with several groups of public health policy stakeholders as well as wrote over 30 magazine articles, journal articles and policy white papers.
Hendrikson received her master’s in social policy and development form from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2009, where she earned the top classification for her research on migrant women’s access to services in the United States. In addition, she holds a bachelor’s in political science from the University of Colorado.
Barb EchoHawk
Associate Professor Barbara EchoHawk, Ph.D., is an associate professor geology in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is an expert on high-resolution stratigraphy, engineering geology, energy and mineral resources, and the geology of Colorado and Wyoming. EchoHawk’s professional experience includes petroleum exploration and research, minerals exploration, engineering geology, and field investigations. She specializes in stratigraphy and sedimentology and is the “soft rock” (sedimentary geology and resources). EchoHawk received the 2016 MSU Denver Faculty Senate teaching in excellence award.
Tom Cech
Tom Cech, M.A., is the founding director of the One World One Water Center for Urban Water Education and Stewardship at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He retired from the University in 2021. Cech’s areas of expertise include water resources management and development, water education, water history, water law and water policy.
Cech was the executive director of the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District in Greeley for nearly 29 years. He also taught undergraduate and graduate level courses on water resources at University of Northern Colorado and Colorado State University for 11 years before joining MSU Denver in 2011. Cech received the Education and Public Service award in 2016 and the Diane Hoppe Leadership award in 2018.
As an expert source, he has authored/co-authored several published books including “Principles of Water Resources: History, Development, Management and Policy,” “Introduction to Water Resources and Environmental Issues” and “Colorado Water Law for Non-Lawyers.”
Cech received a master’s in community and regional planning from University of Nebraska, Lincoln and a bachelor’s in math education from University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Randi Brazeau
Randi Brazeau, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She teaches courses in environmental and water resources. Brazeaus areas of expertise include water quality, premise plumbing water quality, water contamination/spill events, water resource management, stormwater, erosion control/construction and water.
Brazeau received her Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2012, a master’s degree in 2006 and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Florida in 2005.
Antonio C. Bellisario
Antonio Bellisario’s academic training is at the intersection of the fields of International Developing Planning and Environmental Geography. Current research and writing projects are at the crossroads between sustainable development (understood as a mechanism that protects ecologies while at the same time expands socio-economic equity) and the politics of resource management.
At a personal level, what drives his research agenda is his willingness to seek out opportunities for research collaboration and a strong desire to bring these experiences to the classroom to reach students. Bellisario’s regional specialization is South America, with a focus on Chile.
His early research and publications have been focused on the topic of land politics centering on the social contestation about farming and food production in Chile. In this research and publications, he has analyzed the political competition from organized non-governmental groups and political parties in society to shape the planning actions and policies of government.
As for his current research, Bellisario is working on four projects. The first project is an assessment of water resources and the impact of agricultural and mining activities in the water budget of the Aconcagua river basin in Central Chile. The second project is the ongoing collaborative analysis on the urban experience and urban popular culture during the Allende socialist government in Chile. The third project investigates the evolution of land use patterns in Chile, with a longitudinal study of a sample of farms from a rural municipality to track agricultural transformations (he and his team have a working draft for publication). The fourth project is a collaboration with Marco Marquez and Rodrigo Contreras (both professional planners practicing in Chile) that critically analyzes, with the use of key case studies, the effectiveness of territorial planning instruments in Chile.