Cristina Chirvasa

S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources

Wildland Resources Department

Cristina Chirvasa is a first-generation immigrant from Timisoara, Romania. She has spent her time in the U.S. taking advantage of every opportunity, which led to her beginning undergraduate research before starting classes at USU. She began at the Quantitative Fisheries and Aquatic Ecology Lab, mentored by Dr. Timothy Walsworth and Kevin Landom, where she has spent the past four years and developed three research projects. She then began conducting research mentored by Dr. Andrew Kulmatiski in 2021, Dr. Karen Beard in 2023, and Dr. Stacia Ryder in 2023. In addition to her independent research projects, she is working on a self-led Honors capstone. She has won the Goldwater Scholarship for her research, presented at 17 conferences, spoken to congressional staff about her research, and became published as a co-author in a scientific journal. Her research focuses on ecological degradation, climate change impacts, and social inequality and she has advocated for policy solutions to these pressing issues. She is expecting at least four manuscripts with primary authorship as a result of her research. Cristina hopes to work at the intersection of environmental change research and policy as part of a nongovernmental organization.