Gretel Follingstad University of Colorado at Denver CAP-Research gretel.follingstad@colorado.edu

Gretel was born and raised in Santa Fe, NM. Gretel has over 10 years of experience in natural resource planning with an emphasis on strategically linking land use with water resources. Gretel holds a BA degree in International Management and Latin American Studies and a Master of Community and Regional Planning from the University of New Mexico, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. Gretel’s primary research interests are in Climate Change resiliency planning for drought as a natural hazard. Gretel has broad experience in water resource planning, water conservation, watershed restoration and management, as well as various technical skills including GIS mapping and ground and surface water modeling. Gretel has published three articles in Western Planner magazine on climate change, resiliency planning and linking social systems with community development.

PhD Research: Water Resource Resiliency planning for Drought as a Hazard.
Gretel’s PhD research objectives include exploring planning and policy guidelines for local, state and regional water resource planning and response to drought events. This study will focus on various policy options for water resource management and conservation with a focus on degrees of resiliency to the various stages of a drought event. The study uses a model in ArcGIS to measure the effects on water resource availability and resiliency due to changes in water supply and demand.  The impacts of drought are far reaching and mitigating this hazard as climate change impacts intensify is unquestionably paramount to the resiliency of both societal and ecosystem needs, linked to this imperative resource.