Alumni Update

Alumni Update by Jordan F. Fields

What a whirlwind of a year it has been. Time, as theorized by someone (?), has proved relative – the longest days of Zoom comingle with the impossible realization that the last time we were all together in Fairchild was nearly a year ago. Through such uncertainty, the ROX department undergrads, grad students, faculty, staff have persevered: publishing needle-moving work in many fields, starting new diversity and inclusion initiatives, welcoming new members of the department this fall, and collaborating even when we can't be together in person. Likewise, our Alumni have taken the challenges of 2020-21 in stride and completed degrees, started new jobs, taught classes, removed dams, and produced fascinating research. Here, we have compiled a few updates from our ROX family across the globe.

Huanping Huang – PhD, 2019 – postdoctoral fellow in the Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Hi EARS family,

Like many of you, my life during the pandemic has changed substantially and I am still learning to adapt to the new normal. On weekends, I explored nature as I always did back in Hanover, and that's what I am most excited about. Fortunately, there are many national, state, and regional parks, and coasts around the Bay Area. On weekdays, I worked on two projects, one on the predictability of precipitation in the western US and the other on the simulation of tropical cyclones and precipitation. Meanwhile, I applied to a few faculty positions and kept myself busy. Hopefully we will all stay healthy and be able to see each other (in person) again soon!

Sincerely,

Huanping   

Nate Anderson – MSc, 2020 – Visiting Instructor at Alaska Pacific University

Since finishing my master's degree with the Dartmouth College Department of Earth Sciences this summer, I've moved back to Anchorage, Alaska where I live with my wonderful partner, Caitlin, and our newly adopted village mutt named Finn. This fall, I began working as a visiting instructor of environmental science at Alaska Pacific University, teaching math and geomorphology. The EARS department's focus on pedagogy, presentation skills, and working with students in the field have been hugely beneficial as I've been learning to teach my own courses. In my personal time, I have been developing a piece of property that I recently purchased near the remote town of McCarthy, Alaska in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and enjoying Anchorage's vast network of winter bike and ski trails with my bubble.

Editor's Note: Send Nate your congrats as he and his partner Caitlin are recently engaged!

Katie Anderson – MSc, 2020, Seattle, WA

Katie is settling into life on the west coast again after two years in the Upper Valley that ended in a now-classic COVID-style exit:

I left Hanover in March on short notice when the pandemic kicked into gear; I flew home to Montana and left most of my belongings and my car in the Upper Valley. My fiancé and I flew back to Hanover in August, packed all of my stuff into my Subaru (and replaced its alternator) the next day, and then took a 5-day road-trip to get back to Seattle.

Katie and her fiancé, Kyle, live with their two cats Gary and Luna.

Evan Dethier – PhD, 2020 – Postdoctoral fellow with the Dartmouth Earth Science Dept.

I am a post-doc at Dartmouth with the Earth Science Dept. and the Neukom Institute working to better understand the impacts of direct human activity and climate change on water resources and threats around the world. I got to teach a great group of Dartmouth students Advanced Hydrology in the fall and am mentoring four senior thesis students and several independent study students via Zoom, which has been a great way to keep my connection to the Department. Have been moving around a lot and am missing life in the Upper Valley!

Evan and his fiancée, Mia, recently moved from Philadelphia – where Mia was a 3^rd year law student at Penn – to Boston, where Mia will start a clerkship this summer. Evan and Mia's summer 2020 wedding was postponed due to COVID, they hope to marry in the fall of 2021. In January, they adopted a puppy, Winnie.

Lauren Farnsworth – MSc, 2017 – Physical Scientist at CRREL

Lauren and Keith live in Freeport, ME with their dog, Wilma, two cats, Moomin and Edna, and for a few months this summer, the nomadic Evan Dethier and Mia Fry. When at full capacity, their house near the Atlantic was nicknamed the 'sitcom house' by Keith's coworkers.

I continue to work at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) as a research physical scientist where I study physical properties of alpine and mid-latitude snowpacks. I miss doing fieldwork out West, especially during these winter months but I appreciate more time at home in Maine.

Keith Kantack – MSc, 2016 – Geomorphologist at Inter-Fluve

Enjoying life in Maine and working at Inter-Fluve. Involved with some exciting dam removals around New England and a range of restoration projects across the country.

Keith and Lauren are engaged and plan to marry this summer in Keith's hometown, Jackson, NH after COVID forced the party to be pushed back a year.

Gabe Lewis – PhD, 2019 – Postdoctoral fellow of ecohydrology at University of Nevada, Reno

Since defending his PhD in the fall of 2019, Gabe traveled around the western US in his converted campervan with his fiancée Nicole. He feels incredibly fortunate to have weathered out most of the pandemic from remote backcountry skiing and climbing destinations (sans running water or cell service, but with a big smile on his face most of the time). Gabe started an ecohydrology postdoc position at the University of Nevada, Reno, analyzing forest-snowfall interactions and water resources in the Sierra Nevada mountains. He is continuing to study the cryosphere and climate change but is now focusing on mountain seasonal snowpack instead of the Greenland ice cores he analyzed at Dartmouth. He is planning on marrying Nicole this summer (if the pandemic allows) and following her to Las Vegas, where she is currently a first-year medical school student. Gabe looks forward to seeing the EARS department when the STRETCH resumes next fall.

Editor's Note: Gabe's plan to marry Nicole is also contingent on her continued interest in the proposition.