Jessica Magolan, M.S.

Jessica Magolan joined HRI’s Coastal & Marine Geospatial Lab as a Research Specialist in April 2020. She received a dual B.A. from Elmhurst College in Biology and Geospatial Sciences in 2015. After graduation, Jessica had a variety of experiences including using GIS to map electric lines, analyzing acoustic recordings from whales, and conducting vegetation surveys in Wisconsin and Minnesota. She then proceeded to receive her M.S. in Geoscience from University of North Carolina – Wilmington where her thesis investigated wetland changes through time to determine if there was a spatial relationship between habitat change, physical geography characteristics, and the rate of wetland migration upstream. Her research interests include investigating the effects of sea level rise on coastal environments, and using GIS and remote sensing to answer biological, ecological, and socio-economical research questions. At HRI, Jessica is currently working on a project looking at historic habitat change through time along the Colorado River Delta in Matagorda Bay.