Native Voices in STEM - Groundwater to Snow Science: My Research and Teaching Path to Becoming a “Jack(lyn)- Of-All-Trades”

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Melissa Clutter (Cherokee)
Assistant Professor, Geosciences Department, Fort Lewis College

Melissa Clutter is an Assistant Professor in the Geosciences Department at Fort Lewis College. Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as member of Cherokee Nation, she traveled west for college. She received her B.A. in Geosciences from Fort Lewis College, and during this time fell in love with Durango and the Four Corners region.

After college, she worked at Chesapeake Energy Corporation for three years as an Engineering Technician. Determined to change career paths and seek higher education, she went to the University of Arizona for graduate school as a NSF Graduate Research Fellow and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in Hydrology and her M.Sc. in Soil, Water, and Environmental Science.

Her research interests stem from her passion for undergraduate teaching and communicating science to the public. She strives not just to further the field of hydrologic modelling, but also to help non-profits, government agencies, and private landowners make science-informed management decisions.