Dr. Sarah Null & ACWA Lab

Aquatic habitat

Climate and

Water

Analysis

Research Program

My research addresses the potential to protect aquatic ecosystems while maintaining water resource benefits for people in water scarce regions. Ongoing research includes improving aquatic habitat objectives in water resources systems models, evaluating tradeoffs between human and environmental water uses with uncertainty, identifying climate adaptations for water systems, and environmental water management for saline lakes. Systems modeling, mathematical modeling, and field studies are methods I use to improve understanding of systems and explore promising solutions to problems. My research informs river restoration and water resources decision-making to enhance water sustainability in an uncertain future.

In The News

Strike Team: Utah Making Progress on Great Salt Lake

Utah State Today, 1/14/25

New report says Great Salt Lake still at risk, needs long-term support

Salt Lake Tribune, 1/14/25

What happened to the Great Salt Lake this year

DeseretNews, 12/17/24

A dam paradox: Managing reservoirs for environmental and human uses

FISHBIO, 11/4/24

Holding water: Redefining reservoir rules to make room for environmental stability

Utah State Today, 9/18/24

USU research identifies measurement needs for Great Salt Lake

Cache Valley Daily, 8/13/24

Mind the Gap: Yearlong Analysis Identifies Diverse Water Measurement Needs in Great Salt Lake Basin

Utah State Today, 8/12/24

How water moves through the Great Salt Lake drainage

DeseretNews, 8/8/24

Iran's Lake Urmia is lying on its deathbed with a small window of time left to save it, experts warn

Forbes, 2/11/24

Researchers, experts to lead discussion on Great Salt Lake at Newsmaker Breakfast

Utah State Today, 1/9/24

Heat waves strike rivers too--can prescribed burns and beavers cool streams for salmon?

Maven's Notebook, 11/2/23

Janet Quinney Lawson Institute shares latest report on land, water and air

Cache Valley Daily, 10/24/23

From Great Salt Lake to air quality, a new report details how Utah's environment is changing

Fox13, 10/19/23

2023 Report to the Governor, Legislature on Utah's Land, Water & Air Released

Utah State Today, 10/19/23

A record-breaking winter gave the Great Salt Lake a boost, but only a change in how Utahns use water will save it

Salt Lake City Weekly, 9/14/23

If You Unbuild It, They Will Come

Water Education Foundation, 8/3/23

In 2021 people used all the runoff in the Delta watershed--how it happened and lessons learned

Maven's Notebook, 8/2/23

Latest Mekong Dam Will Produce Little Power But Much Environmental Harm

Circle of Blue, 7/13/23

Dams at Fault for Fish Disappearing from Mekong River, Research Shows

Utah State Today, 6/27/23

The Plan to Save Utah's Great Salt lake Involves a Big Pipe

Outside Magazine, 5/9/23

The Great Salt Lake is shrinking. What can we do to stop it?

ScienceNews, 4/17/2023

Will California get enough rain to fill its pricey new reservoir?

Undark, 4/17/23

Experts hope 'water shepherding' will improve Great Salt Lake

ABC4, 3/22/2023

'Strike Team' releases new report on declining Great Salt Lake water levels

Utah Public Radio, 2/8/23

Research Universities, State Agencies Team Up to Offer Solutions for Great Salt Lake

Utah State Today, 2/8/2023

Water Shepherding: USU Experts Discuss How to Ensure Conserved Water Gets to the Great Salt Lake

Utah State Today, 2/2/2023

What does it mean to be a "Woman in Science"?

American Rivers, 2/1/2023

'Promising Options': USU Researcher Investing Water Conservation Methods for Great Salt Lake

Utah State Today, 10/13/2022

What it's like living next to the largest source of dust pollution in the U.S.

Salt Lake Tribune, 10/10/2022

All your questions about the shrinking Great Salt lake, answered (by a brine shrimp!)

KUER, 10/5/2022

Lake questions: How did the Great Salt Lake crisis happen?

Ogden Standard Examiner, 9/27/2022

Group Pitches Utah Lawmakers on a Pipeline to the Great Salt Lake

Fox13, 8/29/2022

California's Large Reservoirs Need Better Management

CalTrout News, 8/24/2022

Facing Down Drought in the West

Utah State Magazine, 8/24/2022

Policy Brief: Storing Water for the Environment

Public Policy Institute of California, 8/22/2022

The Great Shrinking Lake

NASA Earth Observatory, 8/17/2022

'The Time is Now' Researchers Hopeful for Great Salt Lake

ABC4, 8/12/2022

Exhibit at Swaner EcoCenter Lets Public Dive Into Watershed Modeling

Utah State Today, 3/24/2022

The State and Fate of the Great Salt Lake, Part III

KUER RadioWest, 2/4/2022

Wasting Away: There's still time to save the Great Salt lake - if the Legislature steps up

Salt Lake City Weekly, 2/2/2022

Water in 2021: Looking Back on a Year of Extremes

Public Policy Institute of California Blog, 1/3/2022

Head Above Water: Major Grant Awarded for Research on Water Markets

Utah State University Today, 11/23/2021

Managing Water Stored for the Environment During Drought

California WaterBlog, 11/7/2021

Library Showcases Downstream Decisions

The Utah Statesman, 9/26/2021

Dam Battles Converge on Cambodia's 3S Rivers

Circle of Blue, 9/15/2021

Booming Utah's Weak Link: Surging Air Pollution

New York Times, 9/7/2021

The Mekong in Cambodia - an ecological travelogue

Riff Reporter, 9/5/2021

Climate Change is Drying Out Many Part-time Streams in the United States

Science, 8/12/2021

Meet Sarah Null, newest PPIC CalTrout Ecosystem Fellow

CalTrout News, 7/30/2021

Sarah Null is the 2021-2022 CalTrout Ecosystem Fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California

What It Means to Store Water for the Environment

Public Policy Institute of California Water Center Blog, 7/26/2021

US and Iranian Researchers Collaborate on Lake Urmia Restoration

USU College of Engineering, 4/21/2021

The water that couldn't save - Will the Great Salt Lake go up in dust?

DeseretNews, 4/7/2021

Watershed Trade Offs and Modeling with Sarah Null on Thursday's Access Utah

Utah Public Radio, 3/18/2021

Exhibit at NHMU Offers Hands-On Access to Real Consequences of Watershed Decisions

Utah State Today, 3/12/2021

Salty Science Series offers insight into potential environmental impacts of Great Salt Lake

The Forum , 3/9/2021

Slow Motion Disaster: Receding Glaciers open Space for Invading Algae

Utah State Today, 3/3/2021

Keeping fish in mind for Decisions Downstream

Natural History Museum of Utah blog, 1/20/2021

Decisions Downstream: New Art-Science Exhibit Offers Insights into Watershed Connections

Utah State Today, 1/14/2021

Sarah Null's science-art exhibit, Decisions Downstream, is open at Utah Natural History Museum

Cambodia's biggest lake is running dry, taking forests and fish with it

National Geographic, 8/17/2020

Mekong River at its lowest in 100 years, threatening food supply

National Geographic, 7/31/2019

What to Make of a Diminishing Lake?

Utah State Magazine, 1/4/2019

Managed waterways are not isolated from effects of climate change

ScienceDaily, 8/7/2018

Seeking the Source of the Vanishing Great Salt Lake

New York Times, 11/28/2017

Utah's Great Salt Lake has lost half its water, thanks to thirsty humans

Science, 11/3/2017

Scientists warn that saline lakes in dire situation worldwide

AAAS EurekAlert!, 10/23/2017

156 early career engineering researchers to journey to frontiers of their fields, chart new paths

National Science Foundation, 4/5/2017

Four USU Researchers Receive Prestigious CAREER Grants

Utah State Today, 2/23/2017

USU scientist explores 'big picture' of hydrologic modeling for water resources management

Sarah Null is a 2017 NSF CAREER Award recipient

AAAS EurekAlert!, 2/14/2017

USU awarded $2.7M NSF RT grant for graduate climate adaptation science program

AAAS EurekAlert!, 10/7/2016/2017

Outdated Dams: When Removal Becomes an Option

Western Water Magazine, Summer 2016

Dead Seas: Great Salt Lake Faces Ruin

Greenwire, 7/11/2016

Striking a Balance on the Great Salt Lake

Union Pacific Press Release, 6/14/2016

Thanks to Humans, the Great Salt Lake is Drying Up

MSN, 3/2/2016

Dry Lake City: Great Salt Lake is Shrinking

Phys.org, 2/26/2016

Will the Great Salt Lake be Reduced to Dust?

KSL, 2/24/2016

Researchers: Don’t Blame Drought for Low Great Salt Lake

Salt Lake Tribune, 2/24/2016

A Lake Divided: The Uncertain Future of the Great Salt Lake

Utah Public Radio, 2/12/2016

Cut Both Ways: USU Scholars Study Causeway Effects on Great Salt Lake

Utah State Today, 12/16/2015

California Drought: Century-old Fight over Hetch Hetchy Simmers On

NBC News, 5/6/2015

Aggie Scientists Probe Vital Signs of Ailing Western River Basin

Utah State Today, 3/26/2015

Big Dam Turnaround

Ensia, 1/27/2014

Yosemite’s Long-lost Twin Could be Resurrected

New Scientist, 11/5/2012

Hetch Hetchy Controversy: Could Yosemite’s ‘Second Valley’ be Restored?

San Jose Mercury News, 9/30/2012

Dam! Century Old Yosemite Reservoir No Longer Needed Says USU Scholar

Utah State Today, 3/22/2012

Debate Over Yosemite’s ‘Twin Valley’ Restoration

The Guardian, 3/6/2012

Restoring Yosemite’s Twin

Science News Focus, 10/27/2006

The O’Shaughnessy Dam Debate

PBS NewsHour, 8/12/2005

Tom Philp’s Sacramento Bee Hetch Hetchy Pulitzer Prize

UC Davis Dateline, 4/8/2005

Bringing Down a Dam

Sacramento News and Review, 1/20/2005

Hetch Hetchy Reclaimed: The Dam Downstream*

Sacramento Bee, 8/29/2004

Part of a series of editorials which won an Editorial Writing Pulitzer Prize

Department of Watershed Sciences, Utah State University

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