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Keith Musselman

Assistant Professor

Keith.Musselman at colorado.edu Ìý ÌýCV

Keith is a hydrologist, a fellow with the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), and an Assistant Professor of Geography at the ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß. He is interested in freshwater in seasonally snow-covered regions and the processes that govern how water responds to natural and human-driven change. He integrates environmental and climate change issues with resource sustainability issues to build scientific knowledge on water resources that is of effective use and benefit to diverse societal interests. His research involves observation and modeling efforts conducted across time and geographic scales. To address global problems of how climate change, land management, and forest disturbance impact water resources, Keith has used ground-based and remote sensing observations and modeling to characterize how energy and water fluxes vary at the scales of individual trees, study plots, forest stands, mountainous watersheds, and continents. In his free time, he enjoys time with family and in the outdoors.

Alexis Blond

Visiting Masters Student

Alexis.Blond at colorado.edu

Alexis is an engineer specializing in applied mathematics and data science. Working on the Arctic Rivers Project, he studies atmospheric and climate data to understand how environmental conditions in Alaska are likely to evolve in the mid-term under climate change. His work focuses on large wildfires in Alaska, using fire size machine learning modeling as a case study. By analyzing variables such as drought indices and fire weather metrics, he builds predictive models to assess how fire risk may shift in the coming decades. This research contributes to the project's broader goal of supporting climate adaptation strategies for northern Indigenous communities facing rapid environmental change. Outside of work, Alexis enjoys spending time in the mountains, reading, and playing sports like tennis.

Sydney Carr

Ph.D. Student

Sydney.Carr at colorado.edu

Sydney studies the long-term impacts of climate change on snow-driven water resources in the western United States. She uses downscaled climate projections and hydrologic models to support water management and climate adaptation in mountainous watersheds. She is committed to making climate information actionable and accessible, with a focus on outreach that connects her work with stakeholders and communities. When not at her desk, she spends her time in the mountains splitboarding and mountain biking.

Albane Challamel

Visiting Masters Student

Albane.Challamel at colorado.edu

Albane is an engineer specialized in applied mathematics and modeling. As part of the Arctic Rivers Project, she studies flood generating mechanisms, including rain, snowmelt, and rain-on-snow events in Alaska. Using output from regional climate models, she works to project how the frequency and intensity of these events may change this century. Her goal is to support and inform adaptation strategies for Indigenous communities affected by these rapid environmental changes. Albane is very curious; she loves to travel and discover new cultures. She also enjoys spending time outdoors, engaging in activities like hiking and skiing.

Colin Gilbert

Masters Student

Colin.Gilbert at colorado.edu

Colin is a geographer and hydrologist studying relationships among streamflow, river temperature, and climate change. His work is centered on modeling both historical and future conditions of river systems across Southeast Alaska using outputs from coupled atmospheric-land surface models. This project focuses on small regional changes, tracking the downstream effects of changes to precipitation, energy balance, and glacial extent. His work supports an ongoing effort to understand the impact of water temperature changes on fish species that rely on Alaskan rivers as key habitats.

Agnes (Aggie) Macy

Masters Student

Anges.Macy at colorado.edu

Agnes has a background in environmental studies and Arctic anthropology. She is working with the Arctic Rivers Project team to develop community-based Storylines of change. Storylines are descriptive narratives that help to build a more complete picture of environmental changes and their impacts by combining the results of computer models with the lived experiences of community members. Agnes’ work helps to weave community knowledge, observations, and priorities with model results with the goal of creating products that are useful for adaptation planning in communities across the region. Agnes loves anything outdoors—backpacking, trail running, skiing, and biking. She is excited to live in ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß and be part of the Arctic Rivers Project.

Anthony Pirolli

Masters Student

Anthony.Pirolli at colorado.edu

Anthony is developing an accessible web-based visualization platform to serve diverse hydrologic data for Alaska and the National Park Service. His work supports science-based management of Alaskan national parks for resource stewardship, infrastructure protection, and public safety. Specifically, he works with historical and future projections of rainfall, snowmelt, glacier melt, streamflow, and river temperature to understand the changing hydrology of Alaskan national parks. Anthony was born and raised in Rhode Island and is passionate about the outdoors and art. In his spare time, you could find him taking photos, playing music, hiking, and rock climbing.

Nic Tarasewicz

Ph.D. Candidate

Nic.Tarasewicz at colorado.edu

Nic is a graduate student co-advised by Profs. Peter Blanken and Keith Musselman. Nic studies how mountain ecosystems respond to ongoing change. He combines drone-based remote sensing, ecosystem modeling, and field observation to better understand forest resilience and inform adaptation strategies in high-elevation watersheds. Nic focuses on producing actionable science that deepens our understanding of social-ecological dynamics and supports sustainable land management. Outside of research, he enjoys swimming, hiking, and telling stories on stage.

Ava Towle

Undergraduate Student

Ava works with Prof. Musselman and Nic Tarasewicz to maintain and operate a modular remote sensing and meteorological instrumentation platform (the EcoTram) in a mixed forest and wetland environment in the Rocky Mountains west of ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß, including nearby weather stations. In her free time, she enjoys skiing, hiking, camping and climbing.

Liliana (Lili) Wagner

Undergraduate Student

Lili works with Prof. Musselman and Nic Tarasewicz to maintain and operate a modular remote sensing and meteorological instrumentation platform (the EcoTram) in a mixed forest and wetland environment in the Rocky Mountains west of ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß, including nearby weather stations. In her free time, she enjoys backcountry skiing with friends, surfing, traveling with her family, and trying new hobbies.

Dylan Blaskey

Now: Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina

Dylan completed his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in 2024. He was co-advised by Profs. Mike Gooseff and Keith Musselman. During his dissertation, he collaborated with communities in Alaska to combine long-term data analysis, high-resolution physical modeling, and machine learning to assess changes in river discharge, temperature, and ice conditions, providing tools for community-based monitoring and adaptation. This work advanced river temperature and ice modeling, deepened understanding of future river conditions across Alaska, and strengthened collaborative research practices.

Peyton Thomas

Now: Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow, ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß

Peyton Thomas was a postdoctoral associate working on the Arctic Rivers Project with Profs. Cassandra Brooks and Keith Musselman. She used models to address climate change impacts on the growth and survival of Alaskan fishes that serve cultural and socioeconomic importance to Indigenous communities. Peyton received her Ph.D. in Biology and Marine Biology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where her research focused on musculoskeletal growth and metabolic maintenance of juvenile sharks and skates under future projected thermal regimes as well as hypoxia tolerance in coastal minnow fish species. Her research interests include marine conservation, organismal physiology and ecology under current and projected environmental variability with consideration of climate justice and environmental policy.

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Siobhan (Nani) Ciafone

Undergraduate Student (Honors Thesis)

Now: Physical Scientist, USACE Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab

Nani worked as a research assistant with Ryan Webb, Noah Molotch, and Keith Musselman to conduct fieldwork and modeling to assess how wind-driven snow accumulation and redistribution impact patterns of liquid water in snow during the melt season. She was advised by Keith for her senior honors thesis. She used turbulence models, repeat ground penetrating radar (GPR) derived liquid water content maps, and terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) derived snow depth maps to explore the effects of wind and topography on the distribution of liquid water within an alpine snowpack on Niwot Ridge, Colorado.

Yang Han

Professional Research Associate

Now: Technical Specialist · Dolan Integration Group

Dr. Han worked with Keith Musselman and the Front Range Ecosystem Resilience Project Team to design, build and install the EcoTram, a 122 m long track-based modular and mobile remote sensing and meteorological system. Dr. Han sourced equipment, programmed data loggers, and built complex meteorological instrumentation in the lab and the field.

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Ella Hall

Undergraduate Student

Now: Graduate Student, Western Washington University

As an undergraduate, Ella worked as a research assistant on the Arctic Rivers Project. She conduced GIS analysis, literature review, and graphic design.

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Kyla Christopher-Moody

Undergraduate Student

Now: Graduate Student, Montana State University

As an undergraduate, Kyla worked with Josh Koch and Keith Musselman as a research assistant on the Arctic Rivers Project. She developed Python code to QA/QC water quality and river temperature data from continuously recording sensors deployed at USGS gages and in Indigenous communities in Alaska. Kyla developed summary reports to share the data with Indigenous communities who deployed and hosted the sensors.

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Allyson (Ally) Fitts

Undergraduate Student

Now: Remote Sensing Intern, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

As an undergraduate, Ally worked with Keith Musselman and the Arctic Rivers Project Team to map non-anadromous fish habitat using GIS. She also wrote and was awarded a CU Outreach and Engagement Award to help fund the provision of traditional food items at the Arctic Rivers Summit, hosted by our team in 2022 in Anchorage, Alaska. Ally attended the Summit and provided support and coordination.

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Jackson Parker

Undergraduate Student

As an undergraduate, Jackson worked with Nic Tarasewicz and Keith Musselman to maintain and operate the EcoTram, a modular and mobile remote sensing and meteorological system in the Como Creek watershed, west of ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß, CO. Jackson also maintained and processed sap flow data from sensors deployed across a forest - wetland transect coincident with the EcoTram. His work helped to characterize water, energy, and vegetation phenology dynamics in a subalpine Colorado forest.

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Haley Nolde

Undergraduate Student (REU)

Now: Graduate Student, University of South Dakota

As an undergraduate, Haley was an NSF-sponsored REU student. She worked with Nicole Herman-Mercer, Keith Musselman and the Arctic Rivers Project Team to create a , or Geonarrative, about the Arctic Rivers Project. Haley attended the Arctic Rivers Summit, hosted by our team in 2022 in Anchorage, Alaska, where she provided workshop support and coordination.

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Jada Gray

Undergraduate Student (REU)

As an undergraduate student in the Research Experience for Community College Students (RECCS) program, Jada worked to analyze dendochronology of trees along a forest - wetland transition in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, west of ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß, and relate tree growth rates to past climate conditions and water availability.