Dr. Jaris Veneros (he/him) is an agronomist engineer. He is interested in GIS and remote sensing for global change. Dr. Veneros was an IonE Postdoctoral Fellow in Systems Modeling and Data Science. He worked at IonE with Drs. Deepak Ray and Diana Karwan on two projects: Land Classification for Carbon Accounting and Thermal Identification of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem. As part of the Land Classification for Carbon Accounting Project, which he undertook in collaboration with IonE and the Forest Inventory and Analysis team of the US Forest Service, he contributed to the development of land parcel-level classifications for trees in the United States, supporting land-based carbon accounting systems. The project aimed to create a nationwide map categorizing land as private, public, or tribal. Dr. Veneros also conducted research on the Thermal Identification of Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems Project, applying quantitative methods to identify cold-water patches for restoration and protection in Michigan. Conducted across scales from drones to satellites, the project was carried out in collaboration with Trout Unlimited, the USDA Forest Service, as part of the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC). As part of his professional development at IonE, Dr. Veneros participated and presented his work at AGU meetings, as well as at the NASA-JPL 2025 ECOSTRESS Science and Applications Team meeting. These experiences have consistently motivated him to continue his research using drones and satellites to study global interactions between ecoregions.

During the fellowship, Dr. Sharma (she/her) advanced research and practice in equitable climate and weather services, focusing on strengthening social-ecological resilience and enhancing decision support for communities. She developed the Information Supply Chain Framework to map how information moves through institutions and networks before reaching hard-to-reach communities, and created a complementary Theory of Change to identify leverage points for system-wide improvements. Building on this foundation, she conducted a meta-analysis across public health, disaster response, and community medicine to highlight recommendations that can be adapted to climate and weather contexts. This body of work established a conceptual foundation for designing effective and equitable climate services. In partnership with NOAA, the National Weather Service, and the Office of Water Prediction, Dr. Sharma evaluated forecasting and decision-support tools and delivered recommendations that improved usability, clarity, and accessibility. NOAA has already operationalized these recommendations, and the contributions were nominated for the Research to Operations (R20) Award. As part of her professional development, Dr. Sharma reviewed for multiple journals and scientific communities and received recognition from the American Meteorological Society as an Outstanding Reviewer. She strengthened her professional learning by developing climate change curriculum and leading major convenings, including the AGU Water Science Conference. In addition, she facilitated sessions in multidisciplinary settings, such as the Developers Conference, fostering inclusive spaces for knowledge exchange across research and practice. 

Dr. Sharma's LinkedIn

During the IonE Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dr. Apoorva Joshi (she/her) led and collaboratively developed multiple research projects applying her interdisciplinary expertise in the sciences of communication, decision making, and user-centered design. As a fellow, Dr. Joshi was able to diagnostically evaluate and identify key gaps in Federal risk and hazard communication products. She then leveraged her expertise in how psychological processes influence the way people respond to visual and scientific information as well as their decisions and behaviors. Dr. Joshi worked with key Federal partners such as the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Integrated Drought Information System, and the National Water Center to provide scientific, evidence-based recommendations for improving impact-based decision support services such as critical forecast visualization products. Moreover, she identified, co-developed, and empirically tested user-centered design and visual communication strategies that, when operationally implemented, could measurably improve the usability, comprehension, and impact of high-stakes, time-critical forecast products such as the US Drought Outlooks, the National Water Prediction Service, and Flood Inundation Maps. Dr. Joshi’s work has directly served to improve invaluable decision support and forecast data products that are used by over 200M stakeholders in the US, thereby helping to safeguard lives, properties, and livelihoods in the face of devastating natural disasters and hazard events.

During his IonE Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dr. Sam Reed (he/him) focused on developing actionable strategies for ecosystem management and climate resilience, often bridging the gap between scientific research and practical application. He played a key role in developing a comprehensive menu of forest disturbance and disaster management strategies in partnership with federal and state agencies including with the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (MW CASC). Sam also demonstrated his leadership in the private sector by acquiring funding for and leading a "Biodiversity and Nature-Based Solutions" workshop to help Fortune 500 companies align their sustainability goals with climate and conservation targets. His ability to coordinate diverse teams of international scholars was showcased in his work on the US Geological Survey's Biodiversity and Climate Change Assessment, where he helped synthesize how major drivers of biodiversity loss interact with climate change. Sam consistently proved his commitment to professional development, actively participating in workshops on policy brief writing and media interviews, further solidifying his role as a leading voice in science communication.

Dr. Will Lockhart (he/him) was an IonE Postdoctoral Fellow working with the Food System Supply-chain Sustainability (FoodS^3) team and a joint project between IonE and the US Forest Service. He applied his expertise in python programming and data science to help develop a streamlined code base for the FoodS^3 platform and help build a geospatial classifier system for the ownership of carbon in the U.S. He applied his interest in sustainable systems, decarbonization research, and ecological economics to develop a conceptual version of FoodS^3 that can model resilience scenarios and a tool for expanding crop decarbonization "ag wedges" priorities to the entire U.S. With a background in astrophysics, Will successfully navigated a career transition to sustainability research by contributing to a unique set of transdisciplinary projects. His exemplary cross-boundary communication skills embody the impact-oriented mission of IonE Postdoctoral Fellows, which he used to more clearly communicate detailed FoodS^3 technical information and expand its stakeholder network.

Dr. Conway (she/her) was an IonE Postdoctoral Fellow in Agroecology and transitions to sustainable agri-food systems. During her time, she worked on two projects. The first project focused on the USDA-funded Dashboard for Agricultural Water and Nutrient management (DAWN), a state-of-the-art forecasting platform that provides downscaled seasonal climate outlooks that are translated into agricultural decision support tools. Tara developed a research study to evaluate the usability opportunities of DAWN and agri-food forecast tools by key farmer and extension stakeholders using a Q-methodology and interviews with crop insurance providers to explore interest and use of decision support tools. For this work she received the DAWN director’s award “for her insightful research into DAWN's early adopter audience, as well as her exceptional student mentorship.”  Dr. Conway’s second project was with The Forever Green Initiative and focused on evaluating a novel system for innovation and scaling of new continuous living cover crops crucial to advancing regenerative agriculture. Specifically, Tara investigated the impacts of a novel ecosystem service and crop insurance payment program designed to support perennial crop adoption in critical Minnesota watersheds.

Dr. Patrick Hancock (he/him) was an IonE Postdoctoral Fellow in Risk and Resilience. During his fellowship, Patrick applied his extensive expertise in engineering and policy to create practical solutions for climate adaptation. A key achievement was the development of a framework for resilient infrastructure policymaking, which uses a Social, Ecological, and Technological Systems (SETS) perspective to map complex interactions and identify effective pathways for policy change. He also conducted mixed-methods analyses across five key infrastructure domains and led over ten workshops with a wide range of stakeholders—including government, private, and community partners—to ensure that his policy recommendations were scientifically informed and grounded in local realities. As part of his professional development, Patrick demonstrated his commitment to academic mentorship by serving as a dissertation committee member and guiding graduate and undergraduate students.

Dr. Amy Waananen (she/her) was an IonE Postdoctoral Fellow working with the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (MW CASC) where she led multiple projects, including a study on a native grassland seed sharing consortium, a study measuring false spring in floodplains plant species, and an assessment of interdisciplinary climate maladaptation research. Dr. Waananen also led the development of an ecosystem services framework to synthesize the biophysical and sociocultural tradeoffs of solar development in the Midwest. With a large and diverse breadth of work, Amy successfully balanced a unique set of transdisciplinary projects, from field research and lab analysis to community stakeholder engagement and cross-disciplinary policy discussions. Her collaborative approach to research is the exemplar of an IonE Postdoctoral Fellow, challenging herself and others to think in new ways and while facilitating the creation of both clear and rigorous knowledge across boundaries.