Kerstin Niedermaier

Science Needs Assessment Fellow
A young woman with curly brown hair is smiling at the camera while standing outdoors on a mountain trail. She is wearing a warm, multicolored scarf and a grey sweater. Behind her, there is a stunning backdrop of snow-capped mountains under a bright blue sky. The valley below is partially covered by a layer of clouds. The scene is bright and sunny, indicating a clear day in a high-altitude, mountainous area.

Kerstin grew up on the verdant shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio with a love for the outdoors and biology in general, leading to a degree in biology from UVA. Upon graduation, she joined AmeriCorps as a natural resource management technician in the Virginia State Parks, where she removed countless invasive species and was legally allowed to set fires in the woods. In 2020, she began her master's degree in biology, focusing on Carbon sequestration in disturbed forests with the Gough Lab at Virginia Commonwealth University, igniting her passion for on-the-ground research and the applications of climate science. Days after defending her thesis in 2022, she left for Switzerland, where she worked with two different groups at the Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research and ETH Zurich to measure biodiversity using novel tools and technologies. Following a brief hiatus in which she collected 21 Junior Ranger Badges across US National Parks, hiked the O-Circuit in Patagonia, and met Darwin's finches in the Galapagos, she returned stateside to eagerly begin working with the Southwest CASC to support climate adaptation research in the southwest. In her free time she enjoys consuming all media concerning modern day cults, biking, playing board games, and creating miniature objects. 

Degree(s)

  • BA, Anthropology & BA, Biology - The University of Virginia
  • MS, Biology - Virginia Commonwealth University