Research Areas
Our interdisciplinary research spans multiple domains, addressing critical challenges in water resources, agricultural sustainability, and environmental systems.
Ecohydrology
Understanding patterns and process in dryland landscapes, from leaf-level processes to ecosystem-wide water cycles and their response to environmental change.
Environmental Sensing
Developing novel approaches that illuminate ecohydrological patterns and processes through advanced remote sensing and monitoring technologies.
Coupled Natural-Human Systems
Resolving coupled social-environmental system dynamics in subsistence agriculture and developing sustainable water management strategies.
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Recent Publications
View AllEstimating whole-tree sap flow in buttressed and irregular trunks
Michael W. Burnett, Rayna Ruggeri et al. (2026) • Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
Recent publication
Is population growth a threat to agriculture? Perceptions in rural Kenya
S. Lopus, Zack Guido et al. (2026) • Population and environment
Perceptions of population growth and its potential threats to water security could prompt sustainability actions such as infrastructural improvements, use of water-saving technologies, and limits on water access. However, little is known about perceptions of population dynamics, including in rural areas of low-income countries. We surveyed around 500 smallholding farmers in a largely rain-fed region of Central Kenya, finding that virtually all respondents (96%) perceive population growth in their area, and the majority (57%) view localized population growth as a threat to their agricultural livelihoods. Although respondents in faster-growing areas were more likely to perceive population growth, localized demographic conditions were not associated with the likelihood of viewing population growth as a threat to agriculture. Respondents with high population threat perceptions commonly expressed concerns about land – not water – shortages, suggesting that population threat perceptions may not prompt water-conscious climate resilience in the way we had hypothesized. This study represents a useful step toward better understanding how population perceptions could shape population-responsive environmental policy in a growing region.
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