Education

BS Environmental Science, Minor in Geographic Information Systems and Technology, UCLA 2023

MA Geography, UCLA 2024

Research

GIS, Remote Sensing, Climate-based vulnerability assessments, land use/land cover change, tropical ecology, island biogeography, and habitat suitability modeling.

Currently I am assessing the effects of climate change on native plant distributions across the Hawaiian Islands using baseline and future climate model projections. Previously I have also done research on deforestation, habitat degradation, and land cover/land use change within the Congo Basin. I aim to delve further into tropical ecology dynamics and incorporate my environmental science background into my biogeography research as I continue to assess critical threats in a variety of tropical ecosystems.

Selected Publications

Peer Reviewed Publications

Dutko, K., Williams, P., Ordway, E. M., Shin, M., & Gillespie, T. W. (accepted). End of Century Climate Predictions and Vulnerability Assessments of Native Vegetation in the Hawaiian Islands. Applied Vegetation Science.

Biswas, S., Dutko, K., & Ordway, E. M. (2025). Increasing forest disturbance in the Congo Basin is driven by an emerging frontier in Cameroon. Earth’s Future, 13, e2024EF005613. doi: 10.1029/2024EF005613

Book Chapters

Ordway, E. M., Egoh, B., Biswas, S., Dutko, K., Deblauwe, V., Fofrich, R., Ayompe, L. M., Stouter, H., Wesner, E., & Worden, S. (in press). Land-use and climate change impacts on the Dja Reserve. Chapter 2. Springer Nature.

Thesis

Dutko, K. (2024). End-of-Century Climate Predictions and Vulnerability Assessments for Protected Areas and Native Vegetation in the Hawaiian Islands. Master’s thesis, University of California, Los Angeles.

Grants & Awards

Graduate Research Mentorship Program Fellowship, UCLA Graduate Division / 2026–2027

Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Award, UCLA Graduate Division / 2026

Summer Travel Grant, UCLA Department of Geography / 2025

Graduate Student Regents Fellowship, UCLA / 2023–2024

AGU Fall Meeting Student Travel Grant / 2022

Undergraduate Research Scholars Program Grant, UCLA / 2022–2023

Undergraduate Research Fellows Program Scholarship, UCLA / 2021–2022

Courses & Presentations

American Association of Geographers

Annual Meeting / Honolulu, HI / April 2023

American Geophysical Union

Fall Meeting / Chicago, IL / December 2022

UCLA Undergraduate Research Week

UCLA Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology / Los Angeles, CA / 2022
UCLA Institute of Environmental Science / Los Angeles, CA / 2021

Advisors

Dr. Thomas W. Gillespie