Cheyenne Lei
Dr. Cheyenne Lei brings a profound appreciation of diversity in all aspects of teaching, research, and educational outreach, grounded in her trio citizenship from Barbados, the United Kingdom and the United States. Currently a Research Scholar within the Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences at the University of Iowa, her research focuses on examining the differences in projected warming outcomes by integrating albedo and greenhouse gas feedbacks modeled from different landscapes.
Prior to taking this role, Cheyenne completed her Ph.D. in Geography at Michigan State University. While at MSU, she completed my studies within the Landscape Ecology & Ecosystem Science (LEES) lab under the guidance of Dr. Jiquan Chen. She is interested in coupled human-environment change, atmospheric physics, geographic information systems, remote sensing, and landscape ecology. She currently helps maintain over 15 eddy covariance and micrometeorological towers focused on climate change temporal in multiple unique ecosystems, and teach my research through scientific and public outreach.
During the last six years, Cheyenne served as the Chairperson for Geography colloquium committee and Vice-President for Geography Graduate Group at Michigan State University, which were developed to foster solidarity, community and a unified voice within a diverse department, as well as developed an annual series of hosting renowned professionals from multiple disciplines. She successfully led an active recruitment campaign for 4 years during my doctorate to promote the study of Geography, Ecology, Agriculture and Atmospheric Science to students who are eager to learn and pursue science. Some of her accomplishments include mentoring eight undergraduate students, many of who were minorities, women, or international students, and have also successfully gone onto advanced programs, published their research in peer-reviewed journals and found future jobs in their areas of expertise. More recently, Dr. Lei lectured as a key-note speaker at the United States-China Carbon Consortium to teach aspects of environmental modelling of global warming for ecosystem analysis to over 300 students and scientists.
Cheyenne has earned an MA in Geography from Western Michigan University, and a BS in Earth Science and Geomatics at Northern Michigan University.
Her ultimate goal is to develop a research program focused on practical analyses and applications of the drivers of climate change, with a particular focus on the intersection of climate, agriculture, albedo, and climate warming/cooling.
When not writing, Cheyenne enjoy playing video games and riding her motorcycle.
