Kelsey Vershum is an undergraduate research assistant for the policy analysis group. She is currently pursuing her degree in Natural Resource Conservation with a Conservation Science emphasis and working to complete a certificate in GIS. Kelsey has worked for the Idaho Forest Group in the summer and has also interned with the Palouse Land Trust to learn and gain experience in the Natural Resource field.

Kelsey is working across a few Policy Analysis Group projects. For the Fire Severity Reports project, she has been applying her GIS skills while also gaining a better understanding of fire severity and fire occurrences in Idaho. The resulting infographic will provide spatial context to fire in Idaho and how it has changed over time and impacts landowners. The work she is doing on the Resource Availability and Productive Capacity Mapping of Idaho’s Forests project requires an application of a stand density index model at a 30-meter level covering the entire state.