SOE EES undergrad Kayla Greenawalt makes case for protecting the environment

Greenawalt, who returned from a research trip to the Falkland Islands with Ph.D. student Dulcinea Groff in late January, is doing just that as an undergraduate researcher.  On the Falkland Islands — a 4,700-square-mile archipelago off the coast of South America — she collected soil samples around tussac (tussock) grass.  Groff examines sediment and peat cores that contain seabird guano to reconstruct how seabirds and tussac grass were impacted during abrupt climate events as long as 15,000 years ago.

Understanding the past can inform and prepare people for future climate change, including extreme weather, says Greenawalt, whose concentration is sustainability, environmental policy, and natural resource management.

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Falkland Islands

Kayla Greenawalt in the Falkland Islands.