That question led her to NAU\u2019s School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems<\/a> in 2017, and her work in the last two years using remote sensing to gather data led her to admittance into the National Science Foundation\u2019s Graduate Research Fellowship Program\u2014one of the most prestigious recognitions for STEM graduate students. The fellowship also comes with a financial benefit; Orndahl will receive an annual stipend along with funding to conduct original research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is a privilege to be in this company,\u201d Orndahl said.\n\u201cGraduate research fellows are an inspiring group of people, and I never\nthought I\u2019d get to count myself one of them. A fellowship like this has the\npotential to open a lot of doors. It comes with a lot of freedom to pursue\nresearch directions that I\u2019m passionate about, plan field campaigns that\notherwise might not be possible and get creative with my work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prior to NAU, Orndahl spent a year with the Bureau of Land\nManagement and two and a half years with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge\n(ANWR), both in Fairbanks. Working in ANWR was a valuable experience; not only\ndid Orndahl have a breathtaking, vast wilderness for an \u201coffice,\u201d but she got\nhands-on experience studying Arctic vegetation ecology and botany. She saw the\nnecessity of the work she was doing in understanding and preserving the natural\nresources in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She also confronted the challenges. ANWR doesn\u2019t have roads;\nall transportation is done by bush plane. To not waste money or resources like\nfuel, which impacted the ecosystem they\u2019re trying to protect, her team had to\nmake meticulous plans, which ate up time and still required significant\nresources to complete. And even with the best of planning, nature is\nunpredictable. They often returned from a trip with only a few data points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, fieldwork remained critical to what they were doing.\nThe detailed data they picked up was necessary for gaining a thorough\nunderstanding of the landscapes they studied. Orndahl began looking at ways to\nget in the field remotely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI became increasingly interested in remote sensing\u2014what\ninformation we can extract from images, how this information can stretch field\ndata across regions and what discoveries can be made as a result,\u201d she said.\n\u201cIt was this interest that spurred me to return to school and further my\neducation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her mentors at the refuge were longtime colleagues of Scott Goetz<\/strong>, a professor in the School\nof Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems. They connected Orndahl and Goetz\nelectronically, and in a one-day window between rafting through the Grand\nCanyon and returning to her work in Fairbanks, she came to Flagstaff to meet\nGoetz and tour NAU. She was excited about the research and, after the sunless\nwinters of Alaska, really into the cold but sunny Flagstaff days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goetz watched as his new graduate student immersed herself\nin processing large satellite datasets and considered how to help answer a\nresearch question other collaborators put forward: what factors influence how\ncaribou move across vast landscapes? To answer that question, researchers\nneeded maps of how tundra vegetation composition relates to how caribou move\nthrough their habitat, including their foraging preference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In her research, Orndahl uses remote sensing techniques to\nstudy the interactions between caribou and vegetation. Caribou are one of only\ntwo large herbivores that live fully in the Arctic and are one of the region\u2019s\nmost ecologically, culturally and economically important species. About 750,000\nlive in Alaska (part of about 5 million caribou in the world), and scientists\nknow they have a significant impact on the vegetation, both through grazing and\ntrampling. Any impact on vegetation will affect how much forage is available to\ncaribou and impact carbon storage, which is increasingly becoming an issue in\nArctic and subarctic environments. They have yet to quantify just how much of\nan effect the caribou have, however, as animal impacts are typically not\nincluded in carbon cycle models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recent research has suggested that including the impacts of\nanimals like caribou may help fill in gaps in scientists\u2019 understanding of\ncarbon cycling and accounting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Her research will quantify how different herd densities\naffect vegetation cover and structure; using machine learning techniques and\nremote sensing tools like drones, airborne lidar, hyperspectral and satellite\nimagery, she will estimate the per plant functional type above-ground\nvegetation biomass. This data, along with caribou GPS collar data, should allow\nher to build a model that shows the relationship between caribou and\nvegetation, which then can inform wildlife management decisions, improve the\nmodeling of vegetation change over time and get researchers closer to\nunderstanding how animals impact carbon cycling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This research has taken her back to Alaska, though in the\nmore pleasant months; last summer she went to 34 sites within the Fortymile\ncaribou herd range in the state, and she leaves for the Yukon Territories later\nin June to visit sites within the Porcupine caribou herd range. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The GRFP application process is taxing; there are research proposals, personal essays, questions about five- and 10-year research plans, and most of these were limited to two pages. For as much work as it was, though, Orndahl found the opportunity itself valuable. Writing her personal statement allowed her to learn more about herself and the reasons she pursues science, while writing a proposal for a years-long, data-intensive project in two pages required her to focus on the most important factors while still telling the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI really had to knuckle down and distill my research down\nto the most essential bits,\u201d she said. \u201cAll of the thoughts, ideas, objectives\nand pieces of methodology bouncing around in my head had to be tamed, organized\nand constructed into a cohesive narrative. It was through this process that I\nrealized how incredibly crucial this narrative is to conducting relevant and\nrelatable research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fellowship includes a stipend and funding for research\nfor three years, which allows fellows autonomy to work on research questions of\ntheir time. Fellows also have the opportunity for international research and\nprofessional development, as well as networking and building connections with\nother scientists in their own and related fields. It is the oldest fellowship\nprogram that directly supports STEM graduate students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goetz, Orndahl\u2019s mentor, included in his recommendation to the committee a note about Orndahl\u2019s fearlessness in pursuing her scientific questions, whether they take her to remote areas of Alaska to fly drones or requiring her to use the Google Earth Engine platform and NAU\u2019s supercomputer to coordinate complex research among a diverse group that includes scientists, wildlife managers and indigenous communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was absolutely delighted to get Katie\u2019s email notifying\nme she\u2019d been selected, which included more than one exclamation point,\u201d Goetz\nsaid. \u201cShe put an enormous amount of effort into her personal statement and her\nresearch proposal, iterating several times with me and other members of our\nresearch group. It is honestly a pleasure to be her adviser and research mentor\nbecause I know that any investment in her will pay off many times over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, she jets off to Alaska for another summer of\ngathering data about her subjects, the caribou. She has several more years on\nher doctoral degree, much of which will be focused on research and sharing what\nshe learns with others. Public education is a critical part of being a scientist\nfor her; this fellowship will help provide her with a platform to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cScience can only be impactful if folks know about it,\u201d\nOrndahl said. \u201cScientists are also writers and artists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After she graduates, Orndahl hopes to return to the federal\ngovernment as a research scientist, emphasizing not only her work but also the\nneed for collaboration between governments, universities, wildlife organizations\nand Indigenous tribes. Such collaboration is critical to producing science that\nis relevant and robust, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m hoping the technical skills I develop during my Ph.D. can\nbe leveraged at the agency level to conduct research that benefits flora, fauna\nand the people that depend on them,\u201d she said. \u201cRapid advancements are taking\nplace in the fields of remote sensing and machine learning, and I am excited to\nboth witness and be a part of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two other NAU doctoral students received honorable mentions: Lori Glaspie<\/strong> in astronomy and planetary science and Nancy Peterson<\/strong> in informatics and computing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur researchers are working hard to find solutions to problems that affect the world,\u201d NAU President Rita Cheng<\/strong> said. \u201cI am proud of Katie and all of the students who applied for the NSF fellowship; they all had solid research ideas and worked hard on their proposals. I look forward to watching them continue to engage in groundbreaking research throughout their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnswering tough questions<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Katie](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Katie_Orndahl-1024x683.jpg\")
Above: Operating the drone as captured by the drone. Photo credit: Katie Orndahl<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe NSF fellowship<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s next<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Heidi Toth | NAU Communications
(928) 523-8737 | heidi.toth@nau.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"