Germán Silva

Biography

Hey there! I'm Germán and I'm a Ph.D. student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow working with Dr. Jennifer King and Dr. Dar Roberts. I received my BA in Geography from California State University, Stanislaus and my MA in Geography here at UCSB. My recent research has focused on assessing debris flow effects on land cover in coastal salt marshes via remotely sensed and how remote sensing and biogeochemical field data can be combined to assess coastal salt marsh restoration success. In my free time, I enjoy reading, binge watching Netflix, photography, and taking plenty of walks with the dog.

Research

I study coastal salt marsh plant response to environmental change and disturbance. I do this through the use of remotely sensed data (AVIRIS, Sentinel-2, etc.) and field data (soil samples, plant surveys, etc.) to make landscape level assessments. For my MA, I studied the effect of the Montecito Debris Flows on land cover in Carpinteria Salt Marsh using Sentinel-2 imagery. For my PhD, I will be combining AVIRIS imagery and field data to assess restoration progress at the North Campus Open Space restoration site.