Student Highlight: Simone Williams

Although Simone only joined our program in Fall 2020, she's already making waves. Simone was recently awarded the 2021 Environment and Society Graduate Fellowship by Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS). CLIMAS, housed at the University of Arizona’s Institute of the Environment, is part of the nationwide Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessment (RISA) program funded by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). CLIMAS promotes participatory research involving scientists, decision makers, resource users, educators, and others who need more and better information about climate and its impacts. CLIMAS investigators conduct research on the nature, causes, and consequences of climate change and variability in the southwestern United States.

As such, during the fellowship year, she will work with the Coconino Plateau Watershed Advisory Council and Partnership to conduct exploratory research examining water security issues in the Coconino Plateau region of Arizona. Targeted short-term research outputs include a geodatabase and thematic and story maps that highlight karst groundwater vulnerability and risks. Research products will be used by local stakeholders in their water resources policy, advocacy and public outreach work. This work will also inform design of her dissertation research.