EDUCATION
PhD, Environmental and Forest Sciences. University of Washington, Seattle. 2024.
Dissertation Title: Evaluating multi-scaled patterns, trends, and drivers of fire severity to inform adaptive management of western North American forests
Committee: Van R. Kane, Susan Prichard, Harold Zald, L. Monika Moskal, Abigail Swann.
BA, Earth Systems Science Geography, minor in Geospatial Information Science & Technology. UC Berkeley, 2015.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Research Scientist // University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. Seattle, WA. July 2024 - Present.
Graduate Researcher // University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. Seattle, WA. September 2020 - June 2024.
Interim GIS, Mapping, & Drawing Administrator // University of California - Berkeley, Facilities Services. April 2022 - Present.
Geoinformatics Fellow // NASA DEVELOP National Program at NASA Ames Research Center. Moffett Field, CA. September 2019 - September 2020.
Earth Sciences and Remote Sensing Researcher // NASA DEVELOP National Program at NASA Ames Research Center. Moffett Field, CA. January 2019 - August 2019.
Geospatial Analyst and Visual Designer // GreenInfo Network. Oakland, CA. May 2015 - June 2019.
PUBLICATIONS
Kane, V. R., Bartl-Geller, B. N., Cova, G. R., Chamberlain, C. P., van Wagtendonk, L., North, M. P. 2023. Where are the large trees? A census of Sierra Nevada large trees to determine their frequency and spatial distribution across three large landscapes. Forest Ecology and Management. Volume 546,2023,121351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2023.121351
Chamberlain, C. P., Cova, G. R.; Kane, V. R.; Cansler, C. A.; Bartl-Geller, B. N.; Kane, J. T.; Jeronimo, S. M. A.; Stine, P. A.; North, M. P. 2023. Sierra Nevada contemporary reference site boundaries and corresponding remote sensing-derived canopy structure rasters. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2023-0027
Chamberlain, C. P., Cova, G. R., Cansler, C. A., North, M. P., Meyer, M. D., Jeronimo, S. M. A., Kane, V. R. 2023. Consistently heterogeneous structures observed at multiple spatial scales across fire-intact reference sites. Forest Ecology and Management. Volume 550, 121478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2023.121478
Cova, G., Kane, V. R., Prichard, S., North, M., & Cansler, C. A. 2023. The outsized role of California’s largest wildfires in changing forest burn patterns and coarsening ecosystem scale. Forest Ecology and Management, 528, 120620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120620
Cova, G., Prichard, S., Rowell, E., Drye, B., Eagle, P., Kennedy, M., Nemens, D. 2023. Evaluating close-range photogrammetry for 3D understory fuel characterization and biomass prediction in pine forests. Remote Sensing. 15, 4837. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15194837
SELECTED PROJECTS
Cova, G., Saberi, S., Prichard, S., 2022. Wildfires in North Central Washington. StoryMap. http://bit.ly/NCWAFires
Cova, G., Zald, H., Kane, V., Prichard, S. Effects of land ownerships and management on fire severity in western North American forests.
PRESENTATIONS
Cova, G., Kane, V., Prichard, S., North, M., & Cansler, C. Deconstructing the. 'megafire': Trends and ecological outcomes of exceptionally large wildfires in California forests. Association for Fire Ecology 10th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress, December 2023. Oral presentation.
Cova, G., Rowell, E., Prichard, S. Can GoPros democratize field data collection of 3D fuel structure? Association for Fire Ecology 9th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress, December 2021. Oral presentation.
Herbert, C., Cova, G., Pippin, H., Bake, A. Monitoring Land Change from Resource Extraction Using Long-term Time Series Remote Sensing Data in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. AGU Fall Meeting, December 2019. Poster presentation.
Cova, G., Herbert, C., Pippin, H., Bake, A. Monitoring Land Disturbances Caused by Coal Mining in the Powder River Basin Using Remote Sensing. NASA Annual Earth Sciences Applications Showcase, August 2019. Oral and poster presentation.
Cova, G. and Chaiu Zhang, Y. Using Maps and Data as Storytelling Tools. People of the Global Majority in the Outdoors, Nature, and Environment Annual Conference, May 2019. Oral presentation.
OUTREACH AND VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Co-Chair // Association for Fire Ecology. November 2022 - Present.
Graduate Student Council Officer // University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. October 2020 - September 2022.
Organizer // University of Washington College of the Environment Community Equity Initiative. October 2020 - June 2021.
Youth Climbing Mentor // GirlVentures. February 2018 - December 2019.
President // Berkeley Undergraduate Geographers. August 2014 - May 2015.
HONORS AND AWARDS
Honorable Mention // National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. March 2022.
Undergraduate Service Award // UC Berkeley Geography Department. May 2015.
High Honors Distinction in General Scholarship // UC Berkeley Geography Department. May 2015.