Lab Members

Ph.D. Candidate

Adrienne is a PhD student in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning. Her research is focused on just planning in disaster management. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Southwestern University in Environmental Studies and her Master of Science from National Cheng Kung University in Disaster Mitigation and Management. She has worked at the Water Sustainability Lab in Taiwan since 2017, where she utilizes science based participatory environmental planning methods in projects focused on sustainable community planning, wise use of coastal wetlands, as well as least conflict renewable energy planning.

Contact email: adrienne_dodd AT berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Student

Allison Zau (they/he) assists Jennifer Natali's research into riparian meadows in the Northeast Sierra Nevada. Utilizing seismic and electrical resistivity surveys, they hope to identify geologic structures and evidence of historic geomorphic events that shape groundwater aquifers. These shallow aquifers are a critical control on the type of vegetation cover, especially in light of rapid climate change. They are a 4th-year undergraduate studying geophysics in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science.

Contact email: zaua AT berkeley.edu

Casey is a Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning master’s student with an emphasis on coastal planning and transitions from grey infrastructure to hybrid coastal protection strategies. Her research focuses on sediment dynamics in disrupted hydrologic systems and wetland restoration. She is currently researching the impacts of process-based marsh restoration in Coastal Louisiana and the socioeconomic outcomes of current coastal resiliency planning. Casey is an advocate for interdisciplinary education and accessible scientific communication to the broader public. Before starting graduate school at UC Berkeley, she earned a B.S. in Environmental Science and Resource Management from the University of Washington, where she specialized in invasion ecology and sustainable horticulture.

Contact Casey: joneslara17 [at] gmail.com

Eytan Stanton (he/him) is an undergraduate Landscape Architecture student from the Bronx, NY. Prior to his studies, he apprenticed at various regenerative farms and ecological design institutes, worked conservation gigs, and helped organize a community garden and food justice network in his neighborhood during the pandemic. Inspired by Berkeley's history of student-activism, he is currently co-leading a restoration effort in the North Fork of Strawberry Creek.

Undergraduate Student

Ellie Reiff (she/they) is an undergraduate landscape architecture student at UC Berkeley. Born and raised in San Francisco, Ellie has a deep appreciation for native California flora and fauna. Their interest in rivers and wetlands was formalized while taking LDARCH 227: Restoration of Rivers and Streams, and they are currently co-leading a restoration project on a portion of Strawberry Creek.

Contact email: elliereiff AT berkeley.edu

Florencia is a Chilean architect with a strong background in landscape architecture. In her professional journey as a landscape architect, she has always sought meaningful work that involves community participation. This commitment is evident in her work with non-profit organizations in Chile, where her goal has been to bridge the gap between landscape architecture and community needs. Currently, Florencia is a graduate student at UC Berkeley, pursuing a Master's Degree in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning. Her research focuses on nature-based solutions for environmental planning, specifically community engagement in flood resilience and river restoration. She aims to exchange ideas with inspiring cohorts from different disciplines and cultural backgrounds. Florencia recognizes the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in environmental planning, considering the diverse nature of people, land, and its forms. She aspires to build resilient landscapes that everyone can enjoy equally. Florencia firmly believes that water, a scarce asset, plays a crucial role in shaping landscapes and socio-ecosystems. She advocates for understanding, discussing, experiencing, and integrating water into recreational spaces as it forms a key part of the identity of landscapes and their socio-ecosystems. As an architect and future landscape architect and environmental planner, she emphasizes the importance of comprehending how rivers and streams work, as water is the force that designs and defines landscapes.

Ph.D. Candidate

Jen's research explores interactions of sediment, water, and vegetation in montane meadows of California's Sierra Nevada.  Through field observation, remote sensing and numerical models, she works to improve our understanding of the geomorphic and hydrologic processes that influence the ecological function of meadows. By understanding driving factors of ecosystem resilience, we can better prioritize restoration investments and apply techniques to sustain meadow ecosystems and understand their role as hydrologic refugia with climate shifts. Jen earned a B.A. from Smith College. After working as a software engineer for ten years, Jen sought an M.L.A. from UC Berkeley and now works toward a Ph.D. that will inform management of watershed, river and ecosystem functions.

Contact Email: jennifer.natali AT gmail.com

Master's Student

Kim is a master’s student in the Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning program and her focus lies in ecological restoration, specifically, the intersection of fisheries, river restoration, and environmental problem solving. From salmon runs to thorough analysis of large or small alterations to a river, these “interstitial spaces” are the complex interconnections of land, water, humans, and fish, which Kim is seeking to integrate and facilitate through restoration. Kim graduated from Humboldt State University with a degree in environmental science and an emphasis in geospatial analysis. Since then, Kim has been in the field above and below the Klamath River dams, conducting salmon spawning ground surveys in the mid-Klamath basin as well as assessed habitat and identified restoration projects in the tributaries of the Klamath River from Iron Gate Reservoir to Klamath Lake. Kim has held a supportive role as a GIS Specialist mapping wildfires around the American West, and as an Environmental Scientist focusing on environmental review, including CEQA, CESA, and issuance of Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreements.

Graduate Student 

Titli Thind is a Development Engineering graduate student from Goa, India. Her concentration is sustainable design where her research has spanned participatory urban planning, regenerative food systems, and river restoration. Her current research focuses on dam removals in the Global North vs large-scale displacement caused by mega dams in the Global South where she hopes to influence policy. Prior to graduate school, Titli was an airline pilot and permaculture designer. She went on to study Environmental Law and Policy concentrating on conservation of Goa’s ancient food ecology - the Khazans. She then completed a Masters in Sustainable Air Transport Management where she integrated permaculture design to sustainably masterplan airports. 

Contact email: titlithind AT berkeley.edu

Ph.D. Candidate

Vicente’s research addresses water infrastructure and environment: sustainable reservoir sediment management, flood management, and river restoration. His research is focused on strategic planning for sustainable sediment management in Andean River Basins in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, where several new dams are proposed or under construction, some in areas of high natural hazard and high sediment yield. During his professional experience, Vicente has conducted physical and mathematical models for evaluating river diversion structures, and developed a model for reservoir’s water management. He was lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering, U Cuenca, from 2014 until 2016. Vicente received his BS in Civil Engineering at Universidad de Cuenca, Ecuador (2011), and his MSc. In Water Resources Engineering at KULeuven and VUB Universities in Belgium (2014). He was granted a VLIR Scholarship (2012), from the Flemish Government, for his Master studies, a SENESCYT Scholarship (2013), from the Ecuadorian Government, for conducting his Master thesis research, and a Fulbright Scholarship for his PhD studies. While earning his undergraduate degree, he served as Volunteer Firefighter in Cuenca, Ecuador for four years, and one year as Catechist.

Contact email:  vicente.tinoco AT berkeley.edu

Ruby is a master's student in the Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning and City and Regional Planning Programs. She is interested in the social, ecological, and technological implications of renewable energy infrastructure deployment. Ruby is currently researching pathways for attaining Puerto Rico's clean energy objectives while simultaneously advancing energy justice, environmental benefits, and sustainable land use.