Position Title
Ph.D. Student in Ecology
Katherine Brafford is a PhD Candidate in the Ecology Graduate Group and a Graduate Student Affiliate with the Center for Population Biology. Katherine studies how western grassland plant individuals, populations, and communities respond to drought, fire, and invasive species. Her graduate work is supported by fellowships including a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and a Department of Plant Sciences Graduate Student Research Assistantship Award. Katherine is from the mountainous California-Oregon border region and has worked on ecological restoration projects on family land. Katherine graduated from UC Davis with a BS in Plant Sciences and a minor in Religious Studies. Her research interests include restoration, functional ecology, weeds, phenotypic plasticity, adaptation, ecophysiology, restoration, and land management.