I’m Valeria Briones!

My name is Valeria Briones, I am a research assistant for Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts but I am currently living in northern Maine.

The beauty and complexity of these high-latitude landscapes is what motivates me as a researcher to continue learning and trying to find answers to the questions that remain unanswered.

I was born and raised in California, and I am a first generation Mexican American, as well as the first in my family to earn a bachelors and masters degree in this field. I always had a passion for the outdoors and sciences growing up, but it wasn’t until my early 20s that I began to explore the outdoors and my passion to learn more about the natural landscapes was sparked.

Since finishing my undergraduate degree I have lived and worked in a variety of places, including Chilean Patagonia, Alaska, Oregon, California and Maine. Having the opportunities to live and work in these places, I have seen first-hand the impacts of climate change on plant communities and ecosystems. These experiences led to my research interests but also expanded to include the human element and how communities are being impacted. These connections between research and community-based conservation reiterated the importance of continuing to study these fast-changing landscapes to better mitigate future impacts.

My current research is focused on the Pan-Arctic region, where I am a part of a larger group looking to better understand how permafrost thaw is altering the arctic landscapes.

More specifically, we are focused on forecasting future carbon emissions related to thawing permafrost because of the uncertainty that remains about the total contribution of this source to climate change. To continue addressing this question, our team uses a permafrost model to integrate field data together with remotely sensed products to simulate regional projections of permafrost emissions. This is just one of many ways in which Woodwell is looking to better understand the impacts of climate change on permafrost thaw to inform and shape policy decisions on both the global and local scales.

Outside of work, I enjoy hiking with my dog, canoeing throughout Maine’s waterways and getting outside however I can year-round! I hope that access to the outdoors and the chance for people to explore and learn about their surroundings will continue to become more accessible to everyone in the future. Especially for those that are from groups that are underrepresented in the STEM fields so that the next generation of scientists will come from diverse backgrounds and bring new ideas and innovations to help solve very difficult science questions that remain.