Katarina Michel

Office

Biography

I am a doctoral candidate at UC Davis studying biodiversity and climate adaptation of tree species in Northern California’s wildland urban interface (WUI). I hold certificates in Equity in STEM Teaching and College Teaching. My work spans landscape biogeography, fire ecology, and spatial data analysis using citizen science data to understand the WUI’s potential to protect biodiversity under climate change. Other research projects include collaborations with the University of Sydney investigating urban leaf litter flammability, a UC Davis Urban Science Lab collaboration with the Pacific Southwest Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service to assess residential tree survival after the Tubbs Fire (2017), and a Saratoga Horticultural Research Foundation grant investigating native plant cultivars' drought and fire resistance. Past research projects include collaborations with the California Department of Insurance, the Ocean Science Trust, and the California Native Plant Society, exploring topics from equitable and climate-adaptive sea level rise policy to the analysis of native plant protection in county general plans.

Education

PhD Geography, UC Davis, 2027

MSc Environmental Policy and Management, UC Davis, 2023

BA, Environmental Science, UC Irvine, 2018

Academic Interests

plant biogeography, biodiversity conservation, adaptive fire management, ecological spatial data analysis