Assistant Professor of Biology Jennie DeMarco attended and presented her research on using compost and native seeding to restore ski slopes and sequester soil carbon at the 2023 Ski Conservation Summit held at Copper Mountain Ski Resort in Frisco, Colorado. Also in attendance were Southwestern University students Logan Antone ’24, Cooper Phillips ’24, Blaine Ten Wolde ’25, Hailey Vickich ’25, and Olivia Johnson ’26. The summit and our research were covered in several media outlets: 5280 Denver’s Mile High Magazine, CBS Colorado, Summit Daily, and SAM Magazine.

Assistant Professor of Biology Jennie DeMarco recently had a research paper published in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment titled “Composted biosolids for enhanced soil organic carbon and water storage in perennial pastures in Colorado”. This work was part of Dr. DeMarco’s former graduate student’s thesis and focuses on how we can manage pasture lands to sequester carbon into the soil as a climate change mitigation strategy. The paper can be accessed here.

Assistant Professor of Biology Jennie DeMarco was an invited speaker at the September 23 Baylor University Department of Biology Seminar, where she presented her research titled “From Transect to Landscape: Evaluating the Role of Wet Meadow Restoration in Climate Change Mitigation and Resilience

Assistant Professor of Biology Jennie DeMarco was awarded a research grant in the amount of $40,000 from the Bureau of Land Management for her proposed research titled “Nature Climate Solutions: Evaluating the Role of Wet Meadow Restoration in Climate Change Mitigation and Resilience.”

A new research project by Assistant Professor of Biology Jennie DeMarco was featured in the newspaper Summit Daily, which serves the Summit County, Colorado, area. The article, titled “Copper Mountain Resort Begins 10-Year Carbon Sequestration Study,” highlighted the collaboration between Southwestern University, the Copper Mountain ski resort, and Peak Ecological Services, LLC, to investigate the impact of ski slope restoration as a nature climate solution.