Ogden — An alumna of Vancouver Christian High School is in Kenya doing research in paleoecological reconstruction.
Kendra Chritz’s research is part of a doctoral program at the University of Utah funded by a prestigious National Science Foundation fellowship. The fellowship includes a $30,000 annual stipend for each of three years; an additional $10,500 is awarded for each of three years to the university to help cover tuition and other expenses.
Her research focuses on understanding how changes in the strength of the East African monsoon affected ecosystem structure in the Turkana Basin in northern Kenya over the last 10,000 years.
“This is important for understanding ecosystem response to climate change on a fine scale and then applying that knowledge to large scale climate perturbations in the tropics,” said Chritz. “I’m very excited about the prospect of a long career of scientific inquiry and public education about the incredible planet we live on. Hopefully I can offer a better understanding of our role in the environment and how it’s constantly changing nature affects us.”
