Nathan Gill Ph.D., a Colorado-native, joined the Natural Resources Management Department faculty as an assistant professor in 2019. His main focus is on fire ecology with the goal to increase awareness of the dangers and threats of wildfires. 

Gill has received a grant, along with Lindsay Kennedy, Ph.D., in agricultural communications, from U.S. Department of Agriculture that provides funding for graduate fellowships within the Natural Resource Management degree. The National Needs Fellowship program funding will be used to train experts to be proficient in both forest resource management and science communication. 

“We really want to focus on ecological research, resource management and communications,” Gill said.

The fellowships will focus on the importance of managing forest resources and learning about the patterns of wildfire along with the importance of effective communication.

“We really want to focus on ecological research, resource management and communications.”

Nathan Gill

Badri Ghimire, a doctoral student who will begin her classes at Texas Tech University in the fall of 2022, grew up in a remote Himalayan village of Nepal where she developed a love for plants and animals. 

“As a recipient of the National Needs Fellowship, I plan to accomplish interdisciplinary coursework, workshops, peer-to-peer research, and a capstone fire-related to disseminate findings widely.”

The grant will provide opportunities for science and communication to merge together and complement each other to effectively communicate the research about the dangers of wildfire from climate change and poor forest management. The program will help students to effectively communicate their research on wildfires. 

Gill is looking forward to what opportunities for research that the National Needs Fellowship will bring to Texas Tech students. “I feel confident that we are going to be able to have a really successful fellowship program,” Gill said.