The ICREWW VIP team is looking to enroll students for course credit in the Fall 2026 semester. Paid opportunities may be available on a case-by-case basis.
The goal of this project is to address the main question: How do climate variables change over time and affect one another? Students will conduct research to address one or more of the following interrelated questions:
- What connections exist between streamflow, precipitation, temperature, and phenology data?
- How has atmospheric warming impacted changes over time in different associated climatological variables?
- How can integrated weather and hydrology data be used to develop high-resolution weather and streamflow forecasts?
- How is the timing of events such as leaf-out, flowering, and fruit ripening changing?
- Are trends and patterns consistent among species and geography?
- Are the changes we are observing in phenology related to variations in precipitation and available moisture? / Is it possible to determine that precipitation/available moisture is a driver of phenological activity?
This project involves multiple subgroups working together within the ICREWW VIP. Some students will work primarily on the ecological and phenological aspect, some will work on the environmental hydrology and water resources aspect, and some will work more on atmospheric weather and climate analysis aspects. All subgroups will interact with one another to identify the relationships across these interdisciplinary aspects related to climate change and the regional impacts in the Southwest U.S., and this could affect the direction of their research.
Students involved in this VIP will get hands-on experience in one or more of the following areas:
- using critical and creative thinking skills to drive the direction of research
- using a variety of career-relevant software (e.g.. Microsoft Excel, Python)
- organizing data from multiple sources
- analyzing data using relevant and real-world mathematical concepts
- visualizing atmospheric, hydrologic, and ecological data
- working collaboratively
- communicating results
- Upper-division students and graduate students: mentoring up-and-coming group members