Kay joined the USDA Southwest Climate Hub in August 2024 through the University of Nevada, Reno and the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in Reno, NV. Broadly, they study how climate change contextualizes how shifting fire regimes and grass invasion influence Great Basin ecosystems. Kay earned their Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno where their dissertation focused on how changes in water availability influence plant-soil feedbacks after wildfire and during grass invasion. Prior to their Ph.D., Kay earned their Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science at the University of Texas at Austin. Kay employs a wide range of methods to ask broad ranging questions about how the Great Basin is changing, and they are passionate about working creatively and collaboratively with others to strengthen the reach of their science.
Maxwell Kay Strain
Title/Position
- Research Fellow
Affiliation
USDA Southwest Climate Hub, University of Nevada, Reno, U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station
Address
Phone Number
kstrain@unr.edu
Focus Area
- Climate Change
- Wildfire
- Dryland ecosystems