The LEAF Lab team, Fall 2026
Left to right: Nathan Gill, Badri Ghimire, Cecilia Phan. George Gyan, Erin Hosto, Sadie Lord, Nathan McMurray, Jalen Smith, Autumn Strother
Dr. Nathan S Gill
Associate Professor of Natural Resources Management
I am a physical geographer and a landscape ecologist. I study the relationships between fire, plants, and people. My research interests are primarily centered on what a future with more fire means for ecosystem functioning and land management
B.S.: Geographic Information Systems (Brigham Young University '13),
M.A.: Geography (Clark University '16)
PhD: Geography (Clark University '18)
I love learning new things about fire and teaching those things to students and others. The best parts about my job are that it keeps me engaged in lifelong learning, surrounds me with wonderful people and requires that I work outdoors in amazing places.
George Gyan
Ph.D. Candidate
I am a geomatic engineer and an environmental science researcher. I enjoy utilizing geographic concepts, techniques, and tools including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to examine challenges related to fire-outbreaks, and natural resource management. I am excited to continue my studies to gain deeper knowledge and skills in fire ecology, conservation science, and natural resources management. I am privileged to be part of the Landscape Ecology and Fire (LEAF) lab and the Bridge Adventure program in the Department of Natural Resources Management at Texas Tech University as I pursue my doctoral studies.
My research interests include the following.
1. Fire Behavior Modeling and fire effects
2. Natural resources management
3. Aquatic ecosystem management
MS: Economics of Environment and Natural Resource Management (Sumy State University, Ukraine)
BS: Geomatics Engineering (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ghana)
Badri Ghimire
Ph.D. Candidate
I am honored to be a recipient of the National Needs Fellowship and to join the LEAF Lab at Texas Tech University for a PhD. During my doctoral program, I plan to explore plant-fire interaction and use the Remote Sensing (RS) technique to examine post-fire changes in plant communities. Additionally, I am interested in applying Quantitative Wood Anatomy (QWA) to examine the impact of fires on wood anatomical structures. My area of interest are:
1. Effects of fire on plant communities
2. Variability of wood anatomical structures in relation to fire
3. Plant-herbivore interactions
4. Natural resources management
MS in Biological Sciences, California State University, Chico, California.
MSc in Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
BSc in Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Erin Hosto
MS Student / Pendelton Fellow
I am pleased to join the LEAF Lab at Texas Tech University as a Pendleton Fellow in Range and Wildlife Management. My research interests include fire ecology in the Texas grasslands and how fire may be affected by woody plant encroachment.
I am also part of the GrassFire Project - a collaborative study with the University of Illinois and the University of Colorado measuring grassland fuels across the Southern Great Plains to predict how fuel variation drives fire.
BA: Biology and Environmental Studies (Cornell College '21)
Autumn Strother
MS Student; Co-advised in Agricultural Communications
Cecilia Phan
(Undergraduate)
Jalen Smith
(Undergraduate)
I am an undergraduate student majoring in Natural Resource Management at Texas Tech University. Before transferring to Texas Tech, I worked as an environmental technician for two years, gaining field experience in prescribed fire, forest inventory, wildlife and habitat management, and other natural resource management activities. My experience with prescribed fire developed into a broader interest in fire behavior and fire ecology. At Texas Tech, I am now focused on building upon that operational experience through fire ecology research and my involvement as Vice President of the Student Association for Fire Ecology (SAFE).
My interests include:
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Effects of fire weather and fuel dynamics on fire behavior
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Wildland–urban interface ecology
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Operational fire behavior and applied fire science
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Fire regime restoration and reintroduction
Sadie Lord
(Undergraduate)
Nathan McMurray
(Undergraduate)
