Fostering science-based land stewardship and conservation in the Western United States
About
The Ucross High Plains Stewardship Initiative (UHPSI) is focused on land stewardship and conservation in the American West. At its core, UHPSI seeks to engage in teaching, research and outreach on land stewardship, primarily through mentoring students on applied research and management projects with partners. UHPSI is housed at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in New Haven, CT.
OUR TEAM
Indy Burke, PhD
Michelle Downey, MS
Sabrina Szeto, MF
Current Students
Latest news
Conservation Planning for Sheridan County, WY
Our research assistant team worked in partnership with the Sheridan Community Land Trust to develop a conservation planning mapping tool to guide future private land conservation efforts. They incorporated a variety of spatial data from public sources to help SCLT prioritize and direct its funding and outreach in cooperation with its organization’s goals to protect Read more about Conservation Planning for Sheridan County, WY[…]
How to Find Spatial Data Online — Michael Storace
GIS can feel overwhelming sometimes to the casual user, and it can even intimidate those proficient with the program. However, do not fall into despair, there are ways to make spatial data work for everyone! Despite its complexity, GIS remains an incredible tool that can portray the world in a spatially specific way. You can Read more about How to Find Spatial Data Online — Michael Storace[…]
Summer 2019 Opportunities
Western Resources Fellowship (Formerly “Western Research Fellowship”) Our Western Resources Fellowship provides fellows with a financial award, logistical assistance, and mentorship to aid with research, an internship, or applied project that will have a high impact on conservation, stewardship, or management of natural resources in the Rocky Mountain or High Plains regions. This program fosters Read more about Summer 2019 Opportunities[…]
Methods for Non-Native Trout Removal in Rocky Mountain Streams — Brendan Boepple, Franklin Eccher, Laurel Low
The reintroduction of native trout in the Mountain West is a valuable conservation tool for fisheries managers with an interest in maintaining healthy populations of threatened trout species. At the same time, the choice to reintroduce native trout involves a complex decision-making process with numerous biological, ecological, and social considerations. This process is complex, namely, Read more about Methods for Non-Native Trout Removal in Rocky Mountain Streams — Brendan Boepple, Franklin Eccher, Laurel Low[…]
Another Kind of Map – Joshua Morse
Western Resource Fellow alum Joshua Morse has published an article in Western Confluence featuring his UHPSI-funded masters thesis research. Click on the image below to read his article!
Funding the Future of Conservation: A GreenLight Ideation Session with Colorado Parks and Wildlife — Franklin Eccher
Colorado, like many western states, faces a sticky problem: its outdoor spaces are being loved to death. The problem is multi-fold, a product of the transient recreational eco-tourism industry, but also of its influx of permanent residents. Colorado’s population is projected to double from five million to ten million people from 2010 to 2050. The Read more about Funding the Future of Conservation: A GreenLight Ideation Session with Colorado Parks and Wildlife — Franklin Eccher[…]
Final Soil Dryer Prototype — Natalie Irwin
Now that my project partner, Seila De Leon, and I have finished our ten week fellowship at the Yale Center for Engineering, Innovation, and Design, I will reflect on the progress we have made and the work that still exists for us. At the end of the fellowship, we had created what is, at least Read more about Final Soil Dryer Prototype — Natalie Irwin[…]
The Swan Lives On — Sam Maher
The last time I posted, I was a busy forensic ecologist/detective discovering the culprit behind dips in trumpeter swan productivity in western Wyoming. Now, I’m a slick computer programmer using remote sensing data to spatially examine the habitat characteristics selected for by nesting swan pairs. To be transparent, I am neither slick nor a computer Read more about The Swan Lives On — Sam Maher[…]
A Girl Scout’s Walden (Part Two) — Franklin Eccher
Trey Davis, the Preserve Manager at The Nature Conservancy’s Tensleep Preserve, described Tensleep as “a place of superlatives.” Everything at Tensleep is the oldest, the most diverse, the most valuable to researchers, and yet in order for those superlatives to remain true the place must also remain relatively unknown and untouched. My explorations of the Read more about A Girl Scout’s Walden (Part Two) — Franklin Eccher[…]
Thinking Beyond Acres – Brendan Boepple
During my summer with the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust (RiGHT) I was tasked with developing and implementing a stakeholder input process that would guide the development of the organization’s new conservation plan. To better understand the perspective of the community and the concerns of natural resource managers in the San Luis Valley, we conducted Read more about Thinking Beyond Acres – Brendan Boepple[…]
Soil Dryer Updates Post-field Adventure — Seila De Leon
In mid-July, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in this year Western Research Fellowship Retreat in Ten Sleep, Wyoming. For the bulk of the Retreat, we spent our time out on the Tensleep preserve taking soil samples using the latest tools such as the soil extractor, the light spectrometer, and even the soil dryer. Read more about Soil Dryer Updates Post-field Adventure — Seila De Leon[…]
A Strong Fourth Quarter — Joshua Perez-Cruet
One of the major challenges I faced during my study was dealing with the weather; benthic invertebrates are extremely sensitive to natural fluctuations such as water flow and temperature. In order to reduce as many scientific variables as possible during sampling, I spent the first weeks waiting for optimal conditions, which was extremely difficult for Read more about A Strong Fourth Quarter — Joshua Perez-Cruet[…]
Ranch Crew: 2018 Overview — Caleb Gray (a Uni. of WY student)
Ranch Crew was an excellent opportunity that I was able to take ahold of, but I was not entirely prepared for what all it entailed. When first glancing over the flyer for it I thought that it might be working as a ranch hand for part of the two weeks, but it was not to Read more about Ranch Crew: 2018 Overview — Caleb Gray (a Uni. of WY student)[…]
Land and Water: Conservation in Colorado’s San Luis Valley — Brendan Boepple
In the San Luis Valley, there are no shortage of views. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains rise like a wall on the east side of the valley and the San Juan Mountains usher in clouds from the west. The headwaters of the Rio Grande, the river snakes through the valley like a ribbon of green Read more about Land and Water: Conservation in Colorado’s San Luis Valley — Brendan Boepple[…]
A Girl Scout’s Walden (Part one) — Franklin Eccher
I first drove into Ten Sleep under cover of Washakie County darkness. The dark ribbon of highway unfurled through the silhouettes of foothills, a seemingly stark landscape in the late-May dusk. My father joined me on the ten-hour road trip from my hometown of Montrose, Colorado to the Nature Conservancy Preserve at Tensleep, and by Read more about A Girl Scout’s Walden (Part one) — Franklin Eccher[…]