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EDUCATION
Ph.D. Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation,Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
M.S. Department of Geography, San Diego State University
B.S. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California–Davis
B.A. Department of Philosophy, University of California–Davis
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
Assistant Professor Department of Natural Sciences, University of Wisconsin–Superior, 2023–present
Program Director of GIS Department of Natural Sciences, University of Wisconsin–Superior, 2023–present
Visiting Assistant Professor Department of Environmental Science and Studies, Washington College, 2022–2023
Postdoctoral Fellow Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, 2020–2022
Postdoctoral Research Associate Division of Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 2019–2020
COURSES TAUGHT
Instructor ENSC100, Environmental Science, University of Wisconsin–Superior
Instructor ENSC381, Statistical Computing for Research, University of Wisconsin–Superior
Instructor GEOG241, Fundamentals of GIS I, University of Wisconsin–Superior
Instructor GEOG343, Fundamentals of GIS II, University of Wisconsin–Superior
Instructor GEOG442, Advanced Principles of GIS, University of Wisconsin–Superior
Instructor GEOL120, Our Water Resources, University of Wisconsin–Superior
Instructor ENV101, Introduction to Environmental Studies, Washington College
Instructor ENV141, Atmosphere, Ocean, and Environment, Washington College
Instructor ENV294, The Arctic Environment, Washington College
REFEREED PUBLICATIONS (*STUDENT ADVISEE; †INVITED)
[12] Huggett, R. and R. M. Lee. (2024) Problems and prospects of portmanteau titles and other neologisms for interface disciplines in the Earth and life sciences. Progress in Physical Geography 48(4): 1–20, doi: 10.1177/03091333241263859. [link] [pdf]
[11] Gianniny, G., J. M. Stark, B. W. Abbott, R. Lee, and J. Brahney. (2024) Soil temperature and moisture as key controls of phosphorus export in mountain watersheds. Science of the Total Environment 921: 170958, doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170958. [link] [pdf]
[10] †Lee, R., J. Boll, and S. Kumar. (2023) Editorial: Limits and permanence of modern interventions in the water cycle. Frontiers in Water 5: 1179819, doi: 10.3389/frwa.2023.1179819. [link] [pdf]
[9] †Lee, R. M., B. Shoshitaishvili, R. L. Wood, *J. Bekker, and B. W. Abbott. (2023) The meanings of the Critical Zone. Anthropocene 42: 100377, doi: 10.1016/j.ancene.2023.100377. [link] [pdf]
[8] Lee, R. M., N. Griffin, E. Jones, B. W. Abbott, R. J. Frei, S. Bratsman, M. Proteau, I. M. Errigo, A. Shogren, W. B. Bowden, J. Zarnetske, and Z. T. Aanderud. (2022) Bacterioplankton dispersal and biogeochemical function across Alaskan Arctic catchments. Environmental Microbiology 24(12): 5690–5706, doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.16259. [link] [pdf] Media coverage: https://lifesciences.byu.edu/byu-researchers-fight-to-preserve-permafrost-and-restore-earths-climate
[7] Abbott, B. W., M. Brown, J. Carey, J. Ernakovich, J. M. Frederick, L. Guo, G. Hugelius, R. M. Lee, M. M. Loranty, R. Macdonald, P. J. Mann, S. M. Natali, D. Olefeldtt, P. Pearson, A. Rec, M. Robards, V. G. Salmon, *S. S. Sayedi, C. Chadel, E. A. G. Schuur, S. Shakil, A. J. Shogren, J. Strauss, S. E. Tank, B. F. Thornton, R. Treharne, M. Turetsky, C. Voigt, N. Wright, Y. Yang, J. P. Zarnetske, *Q. Zhang, and S. Zolkos. (2022) We must stop fossil fuel emissions to protect permafrost ecosystems. Frontiers in Environmental Science 10: 889428, doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2022.889428. [link] [pdf] Media coverage: https://www.awi.de/en/about-us/service/press/single-view/tauender-permafrost-beeinflusst-das-weltklima.html
[6] Jones, E. F., R. J. Frei, R. M. Lee, J. D. Maxwell, R. Shoemaker, A. P. Follett, … B. W. Abbott. (2021) Citizen science reveals unexpected solute patterns in semiarid river networks. PLOS One 16(8): e0255411, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255411. [link] [pdf]
[5] Chen, X., R. M. Lee, D. Dwivedi, K. Son, Y. Fang, X. Zhang, E. Graham, J. Stegen, J. B. Fisher, D. Moulton, and T. Scheibe. (2021) Integrating field observations and reactive transport modeling to predict watershed water quality under environmental perturbations. Journal of Hydrology, 602: 125762, doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125762. [link] [pdf]
[4] Lee, R. M., K. J. McGuire, B. D. Strahm, J. D. Knoepp, C. R. Jackson, and R. D. Stewart. (2020) Revisiting the Hewlett and Hibbert (1963) hillslope drainage experiment and modeling effects of decadal pedogenic processes and leaky soil boundary conditions. Water Resources Research 56: e2019WR025090, doi: 10.1029/2019WR025090. [link] [pdf] Media coverage: https://eos.org/editor-highlights/repeating-famous-hillslope-experiment-provides-new-insights
[3] Lee, R. M., T. W. Biggs, and X. Fang. (2018) Thermal and hydrodynamic changes under a warmer climate in a variably stratified hypereutrophic reservoir. Water 10(9), doi: 10.3390/w10091284. [link] [pdf]
[2] Lee, R. M. and T. W. Biggs. (2015) Impacts of land use, climate variability, and management on thermal structure, anoxia, and transparency in hypereutrophic urban water supply reservoirs. Hydrobiologia 745(1): 263–284, doi: 10.1007/s10750-014-2112-1. [link] [pdf]
[1] Biggs, T. W., C.-T. Lai, P. Chandan, R. M. Lee, A. Messina, R. S. Lesher, and N. Khatoon. (2015) Evaporative fractions and elevation effects on stable isotopes of high elevation lakes and streams in arid western Himalaya. Journal of Hydrology 522: 239–249, doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.12.023. [link] [pdf]
SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS (*STUDENT ADVISEE; †INVITED)
Lee, R. M. and B. Shoshitaishvili. (2024) The Critical Zone and Global Commons: Unearthing the motivated conceptualization of supranational space in the Earth system. Oral presentation, American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, Honolulu, HI. April 2024.
Lee, R. M., G. Carling, J. Brahney, N. J. Pastick, J. O’Donnell, *J. Nipko, *P. Allsup, M. Baker, S. Ewing, and B. W. Abbott. (2023) Biogeochemical effects of permafrost degradation across Alaska from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. Oral presentation, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. December 2023.
†Lee, R. M. (2023) Applications of GIS to Arctic permafrost hydrology and biogeochemistry. Oral presentation, Northern Area GIS User Group Meeting, Washburn, WI. September 2023.
†Lee, R. M. (2023) Applying GIS to fire and ice research. Oral presentation, University of Wisconsin–Superior, Department of Natural Sciences Seminar, Superior, WI. March 2023.
Lee, R. M., *Q. Zhang, *J. Nipko, J. P. Zarnetske, G. T. Carling, Z. Aanderud, J. Brahney, and B. Abbott. (2021) Terrestrial and aquatic controls on the movement of material transported hydrologically across vast Arctic river basins. Oral presentation, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA. December 2021.
†Lee, R. M. (2021) How to break your model and then sell it to other scientists. Oral presentation, BYU Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences Seminar, Provo, UT. November 2021.
†Lee, R. M., K. Underwood, E. Seybold, S. Hamshaw, D. Kincaid, D. Rizzo, L. Li, J. Perdrial, and B. Abbott. (2021) Big Data is finally enough to evaluate ecosystem vulnerability in the Anthropocene. Oral presentation, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Portland, OR. October 2021.
Lee, R. M., X. Chen, P. Shuai, D. Livingston, and E. Coon. (2019) High-resolution modeling of hydrologic exchange flows in the Columbia River Subbasin at the Hanford Reach. eLightning presentation, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. December 2019.
Lee, R. M., B. D. Strahm, K. J. McGuire, and J. Knoepp. (2018) Decoupled water and nitrate transport downslope and across the terrestrial-aquatic interface. Oral presentation, Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA. January 2019.
Lee, R. M., K. J. McGuire, B. D. Strahm, and J. Knoepp. (2016) Modeling reactive nitrogen cycling on a forested hillslope using 15NO3 and D2O tracers. Poster presentation, Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ. November 2016.
Lee, R. M., K. J. McGuire, and B. D. Strahm. (2015) Modeling relative roles of biogeochemical cycling and hydrologic transport on nutrient export at a forested hillslope. Poster presentation, Gordon Research Conference: Catchment Science: Interactions of Hydrology, Biology, and Geochemistry, Andover, NH. June 2015.
Lee, R. M. and T. Biggs. (2014) Thermal and oxygen dynamics at four urban water supply reservoirs. Poster presentation, Water Resources and Policy Initiatives Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA. June 2014.
Lee, R. M. and T. Biggs. (2013) Thermal and oxygen dynamics in four drinking water reservoirs. Oral presentation, Annual Meeting of Association of American Geographers, Los Angeles, CA. April 2013.
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
Environmental Fellowship Program Edna Bailey Sussman Fund, 2015 ($5,910)
Student Competitive Grant Program Virginia Water Resources Research Center, 2015 ($5,000)
Environmental Fellowship Program Edna Bailey Sussman Fund, 2013 ($5,910)
Watershed Management Fellowship Program California State University Water Resources and Policy Initiatives, 2012 ($5,060)
PATENTS AND COPYRIGHTS
Copyright, IPID: 31790, Battelle PNNL Inventor for Github repository for SBR-SFA project that contains the codes, documentation, and workflows for doing research, including PFLOTRAN simulation, E4D-PFLOTRAN coupling, ATS simulation, and SWAT modeling
SKILLS
Project management Long-distance collaboration; design and implementation of collaborative field campaigns; and management of synthesis and meta-analysis projects. Experience with diverse stakeholders (academia, national laboratories, local and federal government agencies, and non-governmental organizations) for projects located in southern California, Indian Himalaya, New England, Southern Appalachia, Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, and Arctic Alaska.
Field experience Field manipulation experiments; stable isotope tracers; surveying (land and bathymetric); sampling for water (precipitation, soil water, and rivers), soil (soil, roots, and mycorrhizae), organisms (benthic macroinvertebrates), and gas (soil microbial respiration); and installing and maintaining sensors, data loggers, and telemetry equipment. Experience in permafrost, glacial, desert, forest, and agricultural environments.
Laboratory experience Analysis and experimentation including dissolved organic matter bioavailability, elemental analysis CNHS, mass spectrometry, gas chromatography, ion chromatography, dissolved and particulate carbon analysis, fluorometry, and water isotope analysis.
Programming and software Languages: Linux, C/C++, R, Python, and Fortran. GIS software: ArcGIS and QGIS. Workflow development software: Git, Jupyter Notebook, and Docker. Analyzer software: HOBO and s::can.
Numerical modeling Hydrologic and reactive transport numerical modeling (hillslope soil water, rivers, and reservoirs). High Performance Computing and Parallel Computing environments: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and BYU. Models: CE-QUAL-W2, HYDRUS-2D, Amanzi/ATS. Mesh generation software: TINerator, LaGriT, PyLaGriT, ParaView, and VisIt.
Statistics Mixed-modeling, single and multiple regression, and trend analysis.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Geophysical Union
American Association of Geographers
Northern Area GIS User Group
Northeastern MN GIS User Group