About Me.

Sky is a Paleolimnologist, Hydrologist and Climate scientist specializing in freshwater ecosystem change by human impacts. She uses geochemistry, sediment records, hydrological observations, and ecosystem modeling to investigate how lakes and their watersheds respond to both long-term pressures and more rapid disturbances.

Her research examines a broad range of human impacts on the environment, including acid rain, atmospheric deposition, metal contamination, industrial and other pollutants, land-use disturbance, and climate change. Much of her work is centered on the Anthropocene and the ways multiple human stressors interact to alter freshwater ecosystems over time.

A central question throughout her research is whether ecosystems can recover after environmental pressures are reduced, or whether prolonged disturbance can push them across critical thresholds into new ecological states. By analyzing the physical and chemical histories preserved in lake sediment cores, she reconstructs past pollution, environmental conditions, and ecological change to place modern observations within a much longer-term context.

Her work also explores how the legacy of historical pollution interacts with modern climate change. This includes examining ecosystem recovery following reductions in acid deposition and industrial emissions, changes in contaminant cycling, and the effects of warming and changing lake conditions on freshwater systems.

Beyond research, Sky is committed to science communication, education, mentorship, and the connection between science and environmental policy. Through teaching, community outreach, student mentorship, and policy engagement, she works to make environmental science accessible and useful beyond academia.