Paula Guastello

Paula Guastello

  • Contact Information
  • My Story
  • Publications
  • Background
  • Interests

Contact Information

TitleResearch Assistant
Address NE


Off Campus
Phone
  • office: 402-472-6707
E-mailpguastello2@nebraska.edu

 

Contact Preference

Email

Office Hours

I work remotely

My Story

My first introduction to natural resources was over 20 years ago, when I started spending summers working on a regenerative agriculture ranch in Wyoming. The ranch owners’ words about the importance of protecting ecosystems resonated with me at a young age, and I have carried them with me ever since. Over time, I have developed a wide range of intellectual interests and built experience across diverse areas, including water resources, microbiology, ecology, human and animal health, and more. Since January 2023, I have been working at UNL's National Drought Mitigation Center, where all these fields converge into one topic: drought impacts. What I find so fascinating about drought is that it affects everything from environmental microbes to human rights. There is never any shortage of topics to explore within the field of drought impacts. During my PhD, I will continue studying the ways droughts affect ecosystems and societies on local, national, and international scales.


Feature Stories

Selected Publications

Guastello P, Smith KH, Knutson C, Svoboda M. Drought Hotspots around the World 2023-2025. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Online
Guastello, Paula R. 2023. "Connecting the Nebraska Water Quality Index to the Aquatic Microbial Community of the North Platte River Basin, Nebraska" (M.S. Thesis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln). pp. 67Online
Guastello, P. R., Thum, R. (2018) Mesocosm and field evaluation of Eurasian and hybrid watermilfoil response to endothall in Jefferson Slough, Montana. Journal of Aquatic Plant Management, 56, 63-67.
Taylor, L.A., McNair, J. N., Guastello, P., Pashnick, J., Thum, R.A. (2017) Heritable variation for vegetative growth rate in ten distinct genotypes of hybrid watermilfoil. Journal of Aquatic Plant Management, 55, 51-57.

Background

Education

DegreeMajorInstitutionYear Awarded
Master of ScienceNatural Resource Sciences (Applied Ecology)University of Nebraska-Lincoln2023
Master of SciencePlant Sciences (Plant Ecology)Montana State University2018
Bachelor of ScienceBiological Sciences (Ecology)Montana State University2015

 

Affiliations

 

SNR Program Areas

  • Applied Climate and Spatial Science

Areas of Interest/Expertise

  • Drought
  • Drought Impacts
  • Climate