Risk-Risk Tradeoffs and Prescribed Burning Decisions in Colorado

Katherine (Katie) Dickinson is an Assistant Professor in the Colorado School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, located on the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus. An environmental economist by training, her interdisciplinary research examines human behaviors and decision making in the face of environmental and health risks, with a particular focus on environmental and climate justice. Dr. Dickinson received her BS and MS degrees in Earth Systems from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. from the Nicholas School of Environment at Duke University in 2008. She did her postdoctoral training as a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society scholar at the University of Wisconsin from 2008 to 2010, and at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) from 2010-2013. Before joining EOH, Dickinson spent four years as a Research Scientist/ Project Scientist with joint positions at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and CU Boulder (CSTPR). 

Hannah Brenkert-Smith is a research associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Institute of Behavioral Science. Her research examines social-environmental interactions in the face of environmental change, particularly in the American West. Over the past 20 years, her work has focused primarily on household and community response to wildfire risk. In recent years, her work has prioritized collaborative research practices that yield actionable data and insights for those working at the forefront of wildfire risk mitigation in the wildland-urban interface. She earned her PhD in sociology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She was an Environmental Protection Agency Science to Achieve Results (STAR) fellow, a science and technology policy fellow at the National Academy of Sciences, and a postdoctoral fellow in the Climate Science and Applications Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Mike Hannigan is a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Colorado-Boulder.  Hannigan received his PhD in Environmental Engineering Science from Caltech in 1997 and then did postdoc tours at MIT and CSU before landing in Boulder.  His research focuses on measurement and analysis of air quality.  Recently, Hannigan’s research group has been actively engaged in development of low-cost air quality monitoring and emissions tools.  These new tools have the potential to improve our understanding of pollutant emissions, transport, and fate in the US through novel multi-mode spatial networks, facilitate STEM and air quality awareness through citizen science, and create novel air quality measurement datasets for developing regions of the globe where resources restrict environmental assessment.  In addition to his research, Mike thoroughly enjoys his role as a teacher and is constantly looking for novel ways to improve student learning as well as growing the STEM pipeline from K-12 to the university.  

Colleen Reid studies how environmental and social exposures interact to influence health with a particular focus on exposures caused by global climatic changes and society’s responses to those changes. Her research has focused on the health impacts of exposure to air pollution from wildfires, extreme heat events, and proximity to urban vegetation. Funding for her research has come from the EPA, NSF, CDC, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the JPB Foundation. Prior to becoming an assistant professor in Geography at the University of Colorado, Boulder, she was a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. 

Rick DeVoss is a PhD student in Health Services Research at the Colorado School of Public Health as well as a Senior Professional Research Assistant in the Environmental and Occupational Health Department. He has worked previously in survey design and implementation, data analysis for nation, multi-wave surveys, and community participatory research and engagement. He holds a Master of Public Health from the Colorado School of Public Health and a B.A. from Luther College.

Carla Nyquist is a Master of Public Health (MPH) student in Environmental & Occupational Health at the Colorado School of Public Health at CU Anschutz. She also works as a research assistant in the lab of Dr. Katie Dickinson, studying topics related to environmental justice and climate policy in Colorado. Carla received her B.A. with a double major in Environmental Science and Cultural Anthropology from Colby College, and previously worked in research administration at Boston Children’s Hospital before starting her MPH degree.

Evan Coffey joined the University of Colorado Boulder Mechanical Engineering research faculty in 2013 after pursuing a background in Environmental Engineering at CU. He is a Senior Prof. Research Asst. in the Hannigan Air Quality and Technology Research Laboratory, where over the past decade, he has been involved in a variety of air-quality-focused research collaborations in Colorado, California, the Navajo Nation, Ghana, Rwanda and Mongolia. His current research interests focus on the impacts energy use and transformation systems have on ambient and household air quality, exposure and climate. He’s keen on addressing how novel air quality instruments and sampling methods can be used to more comprehensively understand sources of air pollution and their contribution to personal exposure in complex environments. He has served as lead field engineer on two large-scale household energy interventions in Ghana focusing on residential cooking activities and their associated impacts on air quality and health. Currently he co-teaches a project-based learning special topics course in CU Mechanical Engineering.

Sean Benjamin is a Mechanical Engineering PhD student in the Hannigan Lab at CU Boulder. His research focus is on Air Quality. Sean came back to school to pursue research in sustainability after spending three years working in the aerospace industry building and launching satellites and other spacecraft. Sean received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Rochester in New York where he helped develop a low-cost 3d printed upper limb prosthetic base system for a charitable outreach startup. His main research interests encapsulate emissions, renewable energy, novel bioenergy systems, sustainable practices, and sustainable policy.

Stephanie Pease is an MPH candidate in Environmental & Occupational Health at the Colorado School of Public Health at CU Anschutz. She is a research assistant in the lab of Dr. Katie Dickinson, working on environmental justice, climate change, and policy. Prior to her work in public health, Stephanie spent three years as Chair/Chair-elect of an educational 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, volunteered as an event coordinator, and ran a software programming club for primary students. Stephanie earned a Master in Science studying Organic Chemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder and two Bachelor’s Degrees from Houghton College in Chemistry and Mathematics.

Annamarie Guth is a master’s student in Environmental Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research focuses on emissions measurements from prescribed fire as well as fire spreading. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a B.S. in Environmental Engineering in the spring of 2022. Her previous research experiences include working on a cook stove implementation project doing data analysis and conducting her own research project measuring emissions from the burning of waste.

Marissa Dauner is a Mechanical Engineering Master's student in the Hannigan Lab at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research focuses on air quality and volatile organic compound emissions from biomass burning. She graduated from Marquette University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in the fall of 2022. Her previous research experiences are in shock physics and the use of ethanol and other low carbon fuels in heavy duty engines.

Malena Toups is a senior undergraduate student studying mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She works in the Hannigan Air Quality Lab researching the indoor air quality in homes near prescribed fires and how it is impacted by home features. She plans to continue working in the sustainability sector after graduation.