KELLY EASTERDAY

Postdoctoral Researcher
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley CA 94720

phone: +1-805-698-1442 email: kjeasterday@gmail.com

EDUCATION
Ph.D., Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; University of California, Berkeley 2018
Committee: Maggi Kelly (chair), Scott Stephens, David Ackerly
Dissertation Title: Historical legacies shape contemporary forests and woodlands: a study of
California landscapes integrating historical and modern ecological data

B.A., University of California, Los Angeles 2011

Major: Geography/Environmental Studies
Minors: Geospatial Information Systems and Technologies; Political Science

RESEARCH STATEMENT
My research analyzes complex drivers of spatiotemporal change, including: climate, fire, land
management, and the ecological history of place. Drawing on the rapidly emerging field of spatial data
science including remote sensing, and geographic analysis yet rooted in the theoretical constructs of
historical ecology, landscape ecology, biogeography, land management and policy, and forest ecology. I
pursue a geospatially motivated mixed methods and interdisciplinary approach to assess these
relationships and develop applied solutions across scales of analysis.
PUBLICATIONS
Published
Easterday, K., Paulson, T., DasMohapatra, P., Alagona, P., Feirer, S., and Kelly, M. 2018. From
the Field to the Cloud: A Review of Three Approaches to Sharing Historical Data from
Field Stations Using Principles from Data Science. Frontiers in Environmental Science 6, 88.

Easterday, Kelly, Patrick McIntyre, and Maggi Kelly. 2018. “Land Ownership and 20th Century
Changes to Forest Structure in California.” Forest Ecology and Management. 137–46.

Kelly, M, K J Easterday, M Koo, J H Thorne, S Mukythar and B Galey. 2017. Geospatial

informatics key to recovering and sharing historical ecological data for modern use.
Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 83 (11):779-786

Easterday, KJ, PJ McIntyre, J Thorne, MJ Santos, and M Kelly. 2016. Assessing threats and
conservation status of historical centers of oak richness in California. Urban Planning
1(4): 65–78

Kelly, M, KJ Easterday, G Rapacciuolo, M S Koo, P Mcintyre, and J Thorne. 2016. Rescuing and
sharing historical vegetation data for ecological analysis: The California Vegetation Type
Mapping project. Biodiversity Informatics 11: 40-62

Book Chapters
Francis, J., K. J. Easterday, K. J. Scheckel, and S. R. Beissinger. 2017. The world is a park:
 using citizen science to engage people in parks and build the next century of global
stewards. Pages 275-293 in Science, Conservation, and National Parks (S. R. Beissinger, D.
D. Ackerly, H. Doremus and G. E. Machlis, Eds.). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.

Edited Volumes
Beissinger, SR. "Section II: Stewardship of Parks in a Changing World." Eds. KJ Easterday, M
Oldfather, M Raboin, K Scheckel. Science, Conservation, and National Parks. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2017.

In Prep

Easterday KJ , Pitcher L., Kelly M., Ryan J., Dawson T. Remote observation of hydrologic and
glaciologic systems with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs); a review. In preparation for
Remote Sensing Letters

Easterday KJ, Dawson T., Kelly M., Thermal and multispectral remote sensing of vegetation
stress: insights from an experiment with unmanned aerial vehicles. In preparation for Journal of
Applied Remote Sensing

Browne K, E Beller E, KJ Easterday, T Paulson, J Christesen, N Sayre, M Kelly, P Alagona.

Bringing the Past back into Preserves: History for Science and Management. In
preparation for Bioscience

AWARDS
2017 Bancroft Library Fellowship ($5,000)
2016 W.S. Rosecrans Fellowship for forest land managements ($10,000)
2015 Institute of the Study of Ecological and Evolutionary Climate Impacts (ISEECI) fellow ($10,000)
UC Berkeley Graduate Division Conference Award ($2500)
2014 UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly Conference Award ($600)
UC Natural Reserve System Mildred Mathias Grant ($1,100)
UC Berkeley ESPM Summer Award ($2,000)
Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station Scholar ($1,000)
2013 UC Berkeley Ecosystem Sciences Summer Award ($6,742)
2012 ESPM Starter Grant ($1,500)
2011 NCAA Pac-12 Postgraduate Fellowship ($6,000)
2010 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Champion
2009 NCAA National Champion
2008 NCAA National Champion
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Champion

TEACHING

Academic Courses
2017 ESPM 164 (undergrad) GIS for Environmental Science and Management, UC Berkeley (Fall)
2016 ESPM 164 (undergrad) GIS for Environmental Science and Management, UC Berkeley (Fall)
2015 ESPM 164 (undergrad) GIS for Environmental Science and Management, UC Berkeley (Fall)
2014 ESPM 233 (grad) GIS for Environmental Science and Management, UC Berkeley (Fall)
2013 ESPM 233 (grad) GIS for Environmental Science and Management, UC Berkeley (Fall)

Short Courses/Workshops Series

2018 Drone Camp, UC ANR, San Diego California (June 18-21)
2017 Drone Camp, UC ANR, Davis, California (July 25-27)
Spatial Data Science Bootcamp, UC Berkeley (March 28-30)
2016 Introduction to GIS. UCB Forestry Camp (June 7-8)
Spatial Data Science Bootcamp, UC Berkeley (March 23-25)
2015 Google Earth Engine and Related Tools. UC Berkeley (August 20-21)
Introduction to GIS and webGIS. UC Forest Camp. (June 4-5)
Spatial Data Science for Processionals. Geospatial Innovation Facility, UC Berkeley (May 20-22)
2014 Introduction to GIS, WebGIS, Remote Sensing Workshop Series. IGIS. (Fall)
2013 Introduction to GIS and webGIS. UC Forest Camp (June 5-6)
2012 Introduction to GIS and webGIS. UC Forest Camp (June 6-7)

Student Mentorship
Undergraduate Senior thesis: S. Leiker “Identifying the potential for hydrokinetic wave energy off the
California Coast 2017- 2018
Undergraduate Senior thesis: M. Ferriter “Quantifying Post-Wildfire Vegetation Regrowth in California
using Google Earth Engine” Fall 2017
UC Berkeley Sponsored Projects for Undergraduates (SPUR): C. Neyer, H. Callaway, T. Hanson, I. Pak – “GIS
and Remote Sensing for California Vegetation Mapping – Timber surveys and historical maps” Fall
2017
UC Berkeley Sponsored Projects for Undergraduates (SPUR): S. Leiker, E. Klien, C. O’Grady, W. Zhang– “GIS
and Remote Sensing for California Vegetation Mapping – Timber surveys and historical maps”
Summer 2017
UC Berkeley Sponsored Projects for Undergraduates (SPUR): W. Zhang, Z. Klein, S. Tang, A. Burfiend– “GIS
and Remote Sensing for California Vegetation Mapping – Timber surveys and historical maps” Spring
2017
UC Berkeley Sponsored Projects for Undergraduates (SPUR): D. Nyguen, K.Foster, I.Pak– “GIS and Remote
Sensing for California Vegetation Mapping – Timber surveys and historical maps” Fall 2016

Teaching Development
UC Berkeley teaching workshops including: Fostering Student Participation, How Students Learn,
Developing a Teaching Philosophy and Portfolio (2013-2016)
Sexual Harassment Online Course, GSI Center, Berkeley (2013-2017)
Meeting Facilitation and Scientific Writing. Graduate Student Extension Workshops. (2014)
ESPM 375. Teaching in Environmental Science, 3 unit course. (2013)
UC Berkeley Teaching Conference (2012)

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Moore Foundation California Heartbeat Initiative

(July 2018- Present) Postdoctoral Researcher Research lead investigating ecohydrological
influences on vegetation health and distribution across a network of 12 sites in California. Led
field campaigns at 12 sites with data collections form UAV’s, wireless sensors networks, and
vegetation samples.
University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources (ANR) Informatics and GIS (IGIS)
(2014-2018) Statewide Program Staff Provided geospatial expertise for ANR initiatives in healthy food
systems, environments, and communities. Developed and taught workshops to diverse audiences on data
management, remote sensing, GIS, spatial analysis, and drone protocols
Institute for The Study of Ecological and Evolutionary Climate Impacts (ISEECI)
(2015-2016) Graduate Research Fellow Acted as an inaugural ISSECI fellow and board member,
researched the effects of climate, management, and fire on forests within and around the UC Natural
Reserves

UC Natural Reserve System (UCNRS)

(2013-2015) GIS Consultant Consulted in the creation of the first GIS database for the UCNRS (43 sites),
communicated with reserve managers and system wide staff to ensure data accuracy and consistency with
UCNRS missions

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and UCLA’s Institute of the Environment

(2009-2012) Research Staff and Field Assistant Planned and conducted field research in support of join
NASA and Goddard Space Flight Center mission DESDynl. Additionally, worked as GIS research assistant
compiling, developing, and analyzing historical sources of Amazonian vegetation. Supervisor: Sassan
Saatchi

PRESENTATIONS
Invited Oral Presentations
UAV Part 107 Exam and 3DR Solo Drones. Panelist. 2017 Drone Camp Workshop, UC Davis, CA
Analyzing landscape pattern and process. 2016. UCSB CCS. Sedgwick Reserve, CA
Historical perspectives on California Forests. 2016. ESPM Seminar Lightening Talk, UC Berkeley, CA
Preserving biodiversity: Evaluating the future role of the UC Natural Reserve System (UCNRS). 2014.

Conference Presentations
From the field to the cloud: A review of three approaches to sharing historical data from field stations
using principles from data science 2018 Agriculture and Natural Resources Statewide Conference
Ontario, CA
Disentangling drivers of change in California forests: management and climate. 2016 AAG Annual
Meeting. San Francisco, CA
Drivers of change in California’s forests: Perspectives from a historical dataset. 2016 NAC Conference.
Davis, CA
Land ownership influences the structure and composition of CA forests. 2015 AGU Annual Meeting. San
Francisco, CA
Google Earth Engine and Post Fire Vegetation Recovery in California. 2016 CalGIS. Oakland, CA
California Oaks, land management and history. 2016 Mathias Symposium. Bodega Bay, CA
Status and conservation of historical centers of California oak woodlands 2015. GIS Day. UC Berkeley, CA
Using historical data to assess diversity and conservation status of California Oaks. 2014 AAG Annual
Meeting. Chicago, IL
Rescuing, digitizing, and sharing ecological data via the HOLOS API the VTM project. 2014 GIS Day. UC
Berkeley, CA

Extension Presentations/Events
Drones, Imagery, and Remote Sensing 2018 Youth Empowerment Tech Conference. Clark Kerr. May 2018
GeoGirls! Workshop at the 2016 Enhancing Your Horizons conference. Berkeley. March 12, 2016
Intro to Spatial Data and GIS. NASA NOVAs. Berkeley. November 18, 2015
Graduate Student Orientation ESPM. Berkeley. August 2014, 2015
GeoGirls! Workshop at the 2014 Enhancing Your Horizons conference. Berkeley. March 15, 2014
Workshop on Mapping for Graduate Students. November 15, 2013
GeoGirls! Workshop at the 2012 Enhancing Your Horizons conference. Berkeley. March 3, 2012

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Society Membership and Service
Association of American Geographers (AAG) member
American Geophysical Union (AGU) member
Ecological Society of America (ESA) member
Natural Areas Association (NAA) member

Conference Planning
2015 – 2016 Local Arrangement Committee: Annual Meeting of the Association of American
Geographers
2012 – 2015 Co-organization of GIS Day on the UC Berkeley campus with GIF, BAAMA and other
groups

Other Service Activities

2015-Present Graduate Student Representative, ISSECI Executive Board 2014-2018
Member IGIS Strategic Planning Committee
Member ISSECI Historical Ecology Working Group
2015 Member ESPM Department Admissions Committee
2014 Reviewer, ESPM Department Starter Grant

Journal Reviewer
Environmental Management

SKILLS AND CERTIFICATIONS

Data analysis: ArcGIS, QGIS, ENVI, Google Earth Engine, Pix4D, R, Python, Jupyter Notebooks
Certifications: FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot License