About

disturbance ecology, fire ecology, community structure

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I’m a first-year PhD student studying the ecological aftermath of large-scale disturbances, specifically fires. I became interested in disturbance while working at Mount St. Helens—an absolutely beautiful volcano, and the research archetype for primary succession. Over the course of two years doing field work and collections management on the mountain, I fell in love with questions about community reassembly after disturbance. When applying to grad school, I decided to switch focus to a disturbance that is more mediated by human management and climate change: fire. At UCSB, I am in Hillary Young’s community ecology lab, and am also advised by Max Moritz, a fire ecologist in the Bren School.

I’m currently working on a project in the northern Sierras, looking at changes in mammal community structure following the recent 97,000-acre King Fire. Besides doing field work (the best part of science!), I enjoy pretending I can sing, pretending I can bake sourdough bread, and pretending I know bike maintenance. I also play on the Santa Barbara women's rugby team and love to hang out with the rest of the incredible EEMB department.

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kathryn.culhane[at] lifesci.ucsb.edu