akasha.faist@colorado.edu
EDUCATION
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University of Colorado, Boulder Boulder, CO USA
Ph.D. Candidate in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department
Focus: Restoration ecology
Southern Oregon University
Bachelors of Science awarded 6/2004
Ashland, OR USA
Major: Biology
Waikato University
Lead Bio Science Tech
One year undergraduate coursework completed 7/2001
Focus: Biological sciences
RESEARCH/WORK EXPERIENCE
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Rocky Mountain Research Station
Hamilton, New Zealand
Seasonally from 5/2012 to 8/2013
Duties: Acted as a crew leader and head botanist for an ongoing forest thinning study.
Lead Bio Science Tech Rocky Mountain Research Station 5/2011 to 9/2011
Duties: Acted as a crew leader for a study focused on effects of mountain pine beetle salvage logging on understory communities.
Lab/Field Technician II University of California Merced 1/2009 to 9/2010
Duties: Initiated a germination chamber study of the effects of warming on common Rocky Mountain conifer species and conducted alpine vegetation and phenological surveys at the CU-Mountain Research Station in Nederland CO.
Lead Bio Science Tech Rocky Mountain Research Station 5/2008 to 11/2008
Duties: Acted as a crew leader and botanist for a seasonal forest thinning study.
Bio Science Technician (plants) Grand Canyon National Park Intermittent hire from 4/2007 to 9/2008
Duties: Participated in the Colorado River Management Plan (CRMP) inner canyon vegetation surveys.
Fire Effects Monitor Zion National Park 4/2007 to 10/2007
Duties: Completed post-fire vegetation surveys using a variety of sampling methods.
Fire Monitor Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park 5/2006 to 11/2006
Duties: Assisted in various wildland fire duties in Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks fire management program.
Fire Effects Monitor Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park 5/2005 to 11/2005
Duties: Completed post-fire vegetation surveys using a variety of sampling methods.
Research Assistant Yale University 9/2005-12/2005
Duties: Aided in collecting fire ecology data primarily in the Sierra del Carmen mountain range of Coahuila, Mexico, as well as the
Davis Mountains and Big Bend NP, Texas.
Forestry Aid (Fire ) McKenzie Ranger District 6/2005 to 9/2005
Duties: Worked on a 20 person wildland fire hand crew based in Central Oregon.
Biological Field Studies Hawaii Volcanoes National Park 6/2003 to 9/2003
Duties: Monitored Hawksbill Sea Turtle ( E. imbricata ) nesting beaches on the Big Island of the Hawaiian island chain.
Stream and Lake Surveyor Rogue Community College Seasonally from 6/1997 to 9/2000
Duties: Conducted level I, II, and III stream surveys and lake sampling in conjunction with the US Forest Service in National Forests of Southern Oregon and Northern California.

PUBLICATIONS_________________________ _________________________________________________________________
Faist, A.M., S. Ferrenberg, and S.K. Collinge. 2013. Banking on the past: Seed banks as a reservoir for rare and native species in restored vernal pools. AoB PLANTS , doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plt043
Beers A.T., T.S. Potter, A.C. Churchill, A.M. Faist , E. S. Golden, H.R. Filkins, J.J. Hicks, and N.N. Barger. 2013. Advocating for
Science Writing Cooperatives in Graduate Programs. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 94:245–246. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/0012-9623-94.3.245
Kueppers L.M., A.M. Faist , S.M. Ferrenberg, J. Wolfe and C. Castanha. In preparation . Effects of temperature, species and provenance on subalpine tree seedling germination and initial development using controlled environment chambers.
Fornwalt, P.J., C.C. Rhoades, R.M. Hubbard and A.M. Faist . In preparation . Understory plant community responses to salvage logging in stands killed by the mountain pine beetle.
PRESENTATIONS/POSTERS_________________________ _______________________________________________________
Fornwalt, P.J, M. Rocca, M. Battaglia, C.C. Rhoades and A.M. Faist . Understory plant response to mulching treatments in forested ecosystems of Colorado. Society for Ecological Restoration 5th World Conference , presentation, Madison, WI 2013
Faist, A.M. and S.K. Collinge. Invasive plant litter is slower to decompose than native litter and reduces native plant richness and abundance in restored and reference vernal pools. Society for Ecological Restoration 5th World Conference , presentation, Madison,
WI 2013
Faist, A.M
. and S.K. Collinge. Constructing alternate states: Invasive seed bank dominance in restored versus reference vernal pools.
Ecological Society of America , presentation, Minneapolis, MN 2013
Faist, A.M
. S.P. Oneill, D.R. Nemergut and S.K. Collinge. Vernal pool soil properties and their role in restoration success. Ecological
Society of America , presentation, Portland, OR 2012
Faist, A.M.
S.P. Oneill, D.R. Nemergut and S.K. Collinge. Vernal pool soil properties and their role in restoration success. Society for
Ecological Restoration, California , presentation, Davis, CA 2012
Faist, A.M., S.K Collinge and C. Ray. Using seed banks of California vernal pools to better understand restoration success. Guild of
Rocky Mountain Ecologists and Evolutionary Biologists, presentation, C.U. Mountain Research Station, 2011.
Faist, A.M
., S.K. Collinge and C. Ray. Characterization of soil seed banks in California vernal pools: Links to restoration success.
Ecological Society of America, presentation, Austin 2011.
Kueppers, L.M., A.M. Faist, S.M. Ferrenberg, and C. Castanha. 2009.
Population and species differences in treeline tree species germination in response to climate change.
Eos Trans. American Geophysical Union , 90(52), Fall Meet. Suppl. Poster Abstract B23A-
0360.
GRANTS/AWARDS __________________________________________________________________________________________
Central Rockies Society for Restoration Ecology, Student travel grant, $500 2013
Ecological Society of America Applied section, travel grant, $500 2013
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, research grant, $1,200 2012
Garden Club of America, Coastal wetlands studies, $5,000 2012
Colorado Native Plant Society Award, Student grant, $500 2011
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, research grant, $1,500 2011
Society of Wetland Scientists, Student Grant, $1,000 2011
Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), Student travel grant, $500 2011 and 2012

TEACHING/RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIPS ____________________________________________________________________
Graduate Research Assistantship: University of Colorado Boulder, with Dr. Sharon K. Collinge, Restoration Ecology Lab, 2010-2013
Teaching Assistantship: General Biology Laboratory I, EBIO 1230, Fall 2011, FCQ mean: 5.74
Teaching Assistantship: Plant Biodiversity and Evolution. EBIO 4500, Fall 2012, FCQ mean: 5.9
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS _____________________________________________________________________________
Society of Wetland Scientists
California and Colorado Native plant societies
Society for Ecological Restoration (international)
Ecological Society of America
REFERENCES______________________________________________________________________________________________
Available upon request