Lab group: Dr. Paul Evangelista

Time with NREL: I started as a student hourly in 2008, obtained my master’s degree while at NREL and have been an RA since 2011.

Research interest / skills: I have a wide variety of research interests and skills. My formal education is in wildlife biology and forest science, but I cut my teeth on invasive species research at NREL and broadly do lot of landscape ecology related research. I’ve also recently been engaged with forest ecology, forest disturbance, and forest carbon projects and have had the fortune of being involved with numerous projects in East Africa, primarily in Ethiopia and Somaliland for over 10 years. I do a lot of species distribution modeling and remote sensing for these projects. I’m a science advisor for the NASA DEVELOP program that has a node at NREL, and I also do a fair share of admin work to round out the edges.

Hobbies / personal interests: I am one of the few that was born and raised in Fort Collins, and I haven’t left. Most of my time these days is directed towards learning how to raise a little human. My son, Avery, just turned one and my wife (Heather) and I have (mostly) enjoyed becoming parents. Family is central to our life, and we recently moved to be next door to my brother, his wife and their 18 month old and refer to the arrangement as a commune. I love food and cooking and the togetherness those foster. I like to run the foothills outside of FoCo and I hike, camp, backpacking, hunt, and fish the spectacular landscapes Colorado has to offer as frequently as I can. I find enjoyment and meditation in gardening and yard work where perfection is never achieved but learning and fulfillment are ever-present. I used to enjoy a good book or an immersive mini-series, but I haven’t had as much time for those lately (…parenthood). I don’t have a presence on social media, but I do like socializing IRL from time-to-time accompanied by the wonderful beer varieties FoCo provides.