Graduate Student Profiles

_{Nazira Alimzhanova earned a BSc in Meteorology from AlFarabi Kazakh National
University in Kazakhstan and an MSc in Remote Sensing and GIS from the Asian Institute of
Technology in Thailand. She is dedicated to advancing sustainable development through
applied research and geospatial innovation. Her work spans water quality monitoring, climate
risk assessment, and drought monitoring across Asia.
As a research assistant, she assisted environmental sustainability studies in Southeast Asia,
supporting efforts toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals. While at the United
Nations ESCAP, she contributed to capacity building by organizing regional workshops and
strengthening drought monitoring systems in Central Asia.
Earlier in her career, she helped adapt hydrological models for flood forecasting in mountain
river catchments and was involved in meteorological data analysis and staff training in
Kazakhstan. Her multidisciplinary experience—bridging environmental science, technology,
and operations—exemplifies her commitment to translating research into practical solutions
for climate resilience, disaster risk reduction, and water management.}

Office Location: STEPS 1__

Area of Specialization: Geomorphology, Remote Sensing

Leia is a master’s student at Lehigh University studying Earth and Environmental Sciences.  She graduated from Lehigh University with an undergraduate degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences and a minor in Chinese. Her previous work included focusing on traditional methods of erosion control and using magnetic susceptibility as a proxy for erosion rates. In her free time she enjoys dancing, cooking, and reading till her heart's content.

Office Location: STEPS 240

Area of Specialization: Remote Sensing, Geospatial Science, Cryosphere

Mahboubeh Boueshagh is a Ph.D. candidate in Earth & Environmental Sciences at Lehigh University. She earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Civil & Geomatics Engineering with a focus on Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Her research applies remote sensing and geospatial science to study Earth's systems, with a particular emphasis on snowpack dynamics and wildfire interactions in the Western U.S. She integrates data science and advanced remote sensing techniques to improve the monitoring and understanding of these critical processes. Mahboubeh has hands-on field experience in remote sensing of snow, including conducting snow measurements and validating satellite-derived snowpack estimates in mountainous environments. She is also passionate about bridging the gap between academic research and industry applications, leveraging scientific advancements for real-world solutions. In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors in nature, skiing, and hiking.

Office Location: STEPS 580

Area of Specialization: Plant community ecology

Vanessa earned her Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Ghana. She worked as a Research and Teaching Assistant at the Department of Biological Sciences on Liana Ecology and Distribution in different forest ecosystems in Ghana. Vanessa’s interests are in forest ecology, emphasizing understudied plant communities and climate change’s effects on biodiversity. She is also interested in leveraging remote sensing technology to explore ecological questions at a landscape scale. Outside of work, Vanessa is a nature enthusiast with a keen eye for capturing the beauty of nature through photography.

Office Location: ST 220

Area of Specialization: Stable Isotope Geochemistry, Volatile Cycling, Planetary Geology

Juan is a Geoscientist studying the Nitrogen (N) and Carbon (C) cycling through Earth’s atmosphere-crust-mantle systems in Dr. Gray Bebout’s research group. His research focuses on N and C transport and behavior during subduction zone, crustal and hydrothermal processes, with implications for deep Earth biogeochemistry and planetary habitability. He also investigates how N and organic biosignatures are preserved in Icelandic volcanic rocks as analogs of the Martian surface. His work thus far, has been published in the journals Geology and Lithos (Google scholar profile). Juan holds a M.Sc. from TU Freiberg (Germany) in Environmental Geosciences and a B.Sc. from Universidad de los Andes (Colombia) in Geosciences. He is a massive football, tennis, chess and cycling fan and everything sports related. He enjoys going on long hikes, good music and cooking and dancing with friends.  

Office Location: STEPS 580

Area of Specialization: Microbial and plant community ecology 

Matthew earned his B.S. in Biology from Southern Adventist University in 2023, where he investigated the relationships between spring wildflower diversity and soil bacterial and fungal diversity. Matthew’s interests are in applying ecological theories such as island biogeography theory and community assembly theory to soil microbial systems. He is especially interested in using canopy soils as a model system for this research due to the highly fragmented island-like environment and unique abiotic and biotic conditions in canopy soils.

_{Emma is an Earth and Environmental Sciences master's student at Lehigh University. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her research focuses on past climate systems through the lens of geochemistry. In her free time, Emma enjoys exploring the outdoors, learning new crafts, and doing sports.}