27 Jul Rivers in all their beauty and danger

Hi everyone! Hard to believe it’s already August. In my role on the NFS BIL/IRA Coordination team, I am continuing to learn more about data management in the Forest Service as it relates to projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Along with the cohort 7 RAs, who joined our team in June, we are creating a few geospatial products for a wider audience to display some of the accomplishments of BIL/IRA work. The past of this role is really fast, but I’m happy to be part of a supportive team.

Outside of work, the Gunnison river has been a welcome escape from summer heat, and I’m grateful to live in a place with easy access to water. At the same time, I’m also getting ready to say goodbye to Colorado for a little while — in a few weeks I’ll be driving back to Vermont, where I grew up, to reconnect with old friends, family, and the landscape there. Vermont was hit with devastating floods recently, and the juxtaposition between the destruction there and water in Colorado, where reservoirs are more full than they have been for several years, is yet another wave of having to adapt to the increasingly large pendulum swings of weather influenced by climate change. Thinking about these issues on a national scale is scary, but seeing all the ways that local communities I’ve lived in are adapting to the changes gives me hope. Transitioning from place to place is always bittersweet, but I’m looking forwards to spending some time back home and reacquainting myself with my community there.

Until next time!