Dr. Gabrielle Boisrame [She/Her]
Assistant Research Professor, Environmental Engineer
Professional Interests:
The majority of Dr. Boisrame’s research focuses on the interactions between wildfire, land cover, and water in mountain regions of the Western USA. Since 2013 she has been using a combination of fieldwork, remote sensing, and hydrological modeling to explore how managing natural wildfire in landscapes can improve water resources and forest health.
Before coming to DRI, she worked as an environmental scientist for the Delta Stewardship Council, a California State Agency. In this position, she studied adaptive management strategies and calculated large-scale water budgets.
Other research areas include agricultural water management, consumptive use calculations, restoration of wetlands and streams, and groundwater resource management.
Education:
| B.A. |
Applied Mathematics, Minor in Chemistry |
Whitman College, 2010 |
| M.S. |
Environmental Engineering |
UC Berkeley, 2012 |
| Ph.D. |
Environmental Engineering, Minors in Statistics and Numerical Analysis |
UC Berkeley, 2016 |
Doctoral Dissertation: Wildfire Effects on the Ecohydrology of a Sierra Nevada Watershed. 2016.
In The News:
Risky 50-year experiment involving wildfires in Yosemite paying off. CBS News Bay Area.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWw1jnaiCYk
Fire for Water. Ashley Braun. bioGraphic.https://www.biographic.com/fire-for-water/
Reforesting for the Future Climate…when we dont know what that future looks like.Ula Chrobak. Slate.https://slate.com/technology/2022/08/climate-change-wildfires-reforestation-resilience.html
When Wildfire Burns A High Mountain Forest, What Happens To The Snow? Luke Runyon. KUNC.https://www.kunc.org/environment/2020-12-31/when-wildfire-burns-a-high-mountain-forest-what-happens-to-the-snow
A song of water and fire, part two. Alex Hoeft. Moonshine Ink.https://moonshineink.com/tahoe-news/part-2-a-song-of-water-and-fire/?fbclid=IwAR004HmXllMnu1o4ZGwwTAe3ja4k4E1YxdxEuQT4pFZwuFoF7yusWXIdEAM
Fighting fire with fire benefits forests, watersheds. Kevin Schultz. San Francisco Chronicle.https://www.sfchronicle.com/science/article/Fighting-fire-with-fire-benefits-forests-6721955.php
Publications Prior to Employment with DRI:
Boisrame, Gabrielle, Sally Thompson, and Scott Stephens. Hydrologic responses to restored wildfire regimes revealed by soil moisture-vegetation relationships. Advances in Water Resources 112: 1242-146. 2018.
Boisrame, Gabrielle, Sally Thompson, Maggi Kelly, Julia Cavalli, Kate Wilkin, and Scott Stephens. Vegetation Change During 40 Years of Repeated Managed Wildfires in the Sierra Nevada, California. Forest Ecology and Management 402:241-252. 2017.
Boisrame, Gabrielle, Sally Thompson, Brandon Collins, and Scott Stephens. Managed wildfire effects on forest resilience and water in the Sierra Nevada. Ecosystems 20:717-732. 2017.
Dralle, David, Gabrielle Boisrame and Sally Thompson. Spatially variable water table recharge and the hillslope hydrologic response: Analytical solutions to the linearized hillslope Boussinesq equation. Water Resources Research 50:8515-8530. 2014.
Software:
Boisrame, Gabrielle, Frank Dunnivant and Albert Schueller. The Dispersion Calculator. Free educational software for estimating dispersion coefficients from laboratory data. <http://people.whitman.edu/~dunnivfm/software.html>. 2010.
Boisrame, Gabrielle. wgnMaker. Excel Macro which prepares data for the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. <https://swat.tamu.edu/software/>. 2010.
Keywords
ecohydrology, wildfire, land use, water resources, modeling, statistics
Publications
2024
Baah-Kumi, B.,
Boisramé, G.,
Taylor, M.,
Carroll, R. W. (2024).
Can reservoir and groundwater storage buffer the impacts of climate-induced declines in snowpack storage for agriculture and the environment? Insights from the Walker River Basin,
Journal of Hydrology, 630,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.130781
Boisramé, G., Anderson, C., Fong, C. (2024). Assessing Landscape Vulnerability to Drought and Megafires using Linked Forest Condition-Water Models to Guide Resilience Planning. National Park Service: Yosemite National Park
Boisramé, G.,
Harpold, A.,
Tague, C. (2024).
Relationships between snowpack, low flows and stream temperature in mountain watersheds of the US west coast,
Hydrological Processes, 38 (5), May 5, 2024,
10.1002/hyp.15157
Gordon, B.,
Boisramé, G.,
Carroll, R. W.,
Ajami, N. K.,
Leonard, B.,
Albano, C. M.,
Mizukami, N.,
Andrade, M. A.,
Koebele, E. A.,
Taylor, M.,
Harpold, A. A. (2024).
The Essential Role of Local Context in Shaping Risk and Risk Reduction Strategies for Snowmelt-Dependent Irrigated Agriculture,
Earth’s Future. AGU, June 11, 2024,
10.1029/2024EF004577
Boisramé, G., Berli, M. (2024). Exploring a Novel Irrigation Method in the Central Valley, California (Report for Umida AG), July 18, 2024
Heintz, K. M., Saftner, D. M., Boisramé, G., Sasaki, M., Kruger, B. R. (2024). Monitoring Groundwater Levels in Oasis Valley, NV, and Evaluating Potential Drawdown During the North Bullfrog Aquifer Test, Publication No. 41305. Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute
2023
Boisramé, G.,
Carroll, R. W. (2023).
Exploring Climate-Driven Agricultural Water Shortages in a Snow-Fed Basin Using a Water Allocation Model and Machine Learning,
Journal of Hydrology,
10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129605
Hwang, K.,
Harpold, A.,
Tague, C.,
Lowman, L.,
Boisramé, G.,
Lininger, K.,
Sullivan, P.,
Manning, A.,
Graup, L.,
Litvak, M.,
Lewis, G.,
Miller, K.,
Brooks, P.,
Barnard, H. (2023).
Seeing the Disturbed Forest for the Trees: Remote Sensing Is Underutilized to Quantify Critical Zone Response to Unprecedented Disturbance,
Earth’s Future, 11 (8), e2022EF003314. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF003314
Heintz, K. M., Sueki, S., Boisramé, G. (2023). Real-time Hydrometeorological Monitoring and Spring Characterization at Critical Habitat on the 7J Ranch, Oasis Valley, Nevada: DRI, Publication No. 41300
2022
Boisramé, G.,
Brown, T. J.,
Bachelet, D. (2022).
Trends in Western US Fire Fuels Using Historical Data and Modeling,
Fire Ecology, 18 (8), June 10, 2022,
10.1186/s42408-022-00129-4
Gordon, B. L., Brooks, P. D., Krogh, S. A., Boisramé, G., Carroll, R. W., McNamara, J. P., Harpold, A. A. (2022). Why does snowmelt-driven streamflow response to warming vary? A data-driven review and predictive framework, Environmental Research Letters, 17 (5), April 25, 2022, 10.1088/1748-9326/ac64b4
Crompton, O.,
Boisramé, G.,
Rakhmatulina, E.,
Stephens, S.,
Thompson, S. (2022).
Fire return intervals explain different vegetation cover responses to wildfire restoration in two Sierra Nevada basins,
Forest Ecology and Management,
10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120429
Pereira, T. J., Boisramé, G., Gentilcore, D. M., Hausner, M. B., Sion, B. (2022). Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan: U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett, California, Prepared for Department of the Army, US Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett: Fort Hunter Liggett CA, under contract W9126G2020040
Pereira, T. J., Boisramé, G., Gentilcore, D. M., Hausner, M. B., Sion, B. (2022). Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan: Parks Reserve Forces Training Area, California, Prepared for Department of the Army, US Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett: Fort Hunter Liggett CA under contract W9126G2020040
Pereira, T. J., Boisramé, G., Gentilcore, D. M., Hausner, M. B., Sion, B. (2022). Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Component: U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett, California, Prepared for Department of the Army, US Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett: Fort Hunter Liggett CA, under contract W9126G2020040
Pereira, T. J., Boisramé, G., Gentilcore, D. M., Hausner, M. B., Sion, B. (2022). Vegetation Management Plan: Parks Reserve Forces Training Area, California, Prepared for Department of the Army, US Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett: Fort Hunter Liggett CA, under contract W9126G2020040
2021
Robinne, F.,
Hallema, D.,
Bladon, K.,
Flannigan, M.,
Boisramé, G.,
Bréthaut, C.,
Doerr, S.,
Di Baldassarre, G.,
Gallagher, L.,
Hohner, A.,
Khan, S.,
Kinoshita, A.,
Martin, D.,
Mordecai, R.,
Nunes, J.,
Nyman, P.,
Santín, C.,
Sheridan, G.,
Stoof, C.,
Thompson, M.,
Waddington, J.,
Wei, Y. (2021).
Scientists’ warning on extreme wildfire risks to water supply,
Hydrological Processes, n/a (n/a), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd,
10.1002/hyp.14086
Boisramé, G., Witt, S., Becerra-Hernandez, L., Heintz, K. M. (2021). Quantifying Hydrological Fluxes at the 7J Ranch: Report for The Nature Conservancy, June 9, 2021
Stephens, S.,
Thompson, S.,
Boisramé, G.,
Collins, B.,
Ponisio, L.,
Rakhmatulina, E.,
Steel, Z.,
Stevens, J.,
van Wagtendonk, J.,
Wilkin, K. (2021).
Fire, water, and biodiversity in the Sierra Nevada: A possible triple win,
Environmental Research Communications, 3 (081004),
10.1088/2515-7620/ac17e2
Boisramé, G. (2021). Final Report for Study # YOSE-00671: Effects of recurring forest fires on the ecohydrology and climate change resilience of the Illilouette Creek Basin. Yosemite National Park, September 1, 2021
Robinne, F.,
Hallema, D. W.,
Bladon, K. D.,
Flannigan, M. D.,
Boisramé, G.,
Bréthaut, C.,
Doerr, S. H.,
Di Baldassarre, G.,
Gallagher, L. A.,
Hohner, A. K.,
Khan, S. J.,
Kinoshita, A. M.,
Mordecai, R.,
Nunes, J. P.,
Nyman, P.,
Santín, C.,
Sheridan, G.,
Stoof, C. R.,
Thompson, M. P.,
Waddington, J. M.,
Wei, Y. (2021).
Scientists’ warning on extreme wildfire risks to water supply,
Hydrological Processes, 35 (5), e14086,
10.1002/hyp.14086
2020
Stevens, J.,
Boisramé, G.,
Rakhmatulina, E.,
Thompson, S.,
Collins, B.,
Stephens, S. (2020).
Forest Vegetation Change and Its Impacts on Soil Water Following 47 Years of Managed Wildfire,
Ecosystems, February 12, 2020,
10.1007/s10021-020-00489-5
Rakhmatulina, E.,
Boisramé, G.,
Thompson, S.,
Stephens, S. (2020).
Hydrological benefits of restoring wildfire regimes in the Sierra Nevada persist in a warming climate,
Journal of Hydrology, December 8, 2020,
10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125808
2019
Ariyama, J.,
Boisramé, G.,
Brand, M. R. (2019).
Water Budgets for the Delta Watershed: Putting Together the Many Disparate Pieces,
San Francisco Estuary & Watershed Science, 17 (2), June 17, 2019,
10.15447/sfews.2019v17iss2art2 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7z21c397#supplemental
Boisramé, G.,
Thompson, S.,
Tague, C.,
Stephens, S. (2019).
Restoring a Natural Fire Regime Alters the Water Balance of a Sierra Nevada Catchment,
Water Resources Research,
10.1029/2018WR024098
Conference Proceedings
2024
Gordon, B., Boisramé, G., Carroll, R. W., Baah-Kumi,, B., Taylor, M. (2024). Impact of Changing Hydrology on Irrigation in Northern Nevada. Nevada Water Resources Association Annual Conference: Las Vegas, NV, January 29, 2024-February 1, 2024
Baah-Kumi, B., Taylor, M., Boisramé, G., Carroll, R. W. (2024). Exploring the potential of expanding water trading to support environmental flows and agricultural production in a terminal lake basin in Nevada, USA. Nevada Water Resources Association Annual Conference: Las Vegas, NV, January 29, 2024-February 1, 2024
Boisramé, G. (2024). Lessons from intact fire regimes: fire, streamflow, and biodiversity in the Illilouette Basin in Yosemite NP. Salmonid Restoration Conference: Santa Rosa, CA, March 27, 2024
Boisramé, G. (2024). Natural wildfire creates microclimates that enhance snowpack. Western Snow Conference: Corvallis, OR, April 22, 2024-April 24, 2024
Ammatelli, J., Kim, I., Chellman, N. J., Carroll, R. W., Boisramé, G., Heggli, A. E., Hausner, M. B., Meyer, J. (2024). Towards Enhanced Understanding of Snow-Soil Energy Exchanges and Their Effect on Snow Processes: An Integrated Numerical Modeling Approach. AGU24 Fall Meeting: Washington, D.C., December 9, 2024-December 13, 2024
Li, K., Berli, M., Boisramé, G., Hosseinpour, F. E. (2024). Understanding Hydrological Processes through an Interpretable Deep Learning Framework. American Geophysical Union: Washington, D.C., December 8, 2024-December 13, 2024
2023
Boisramé, G., Carroll, R. W., Baah-Kumi, B., Taylor, M. (2023). Interdisciplinary Modeling of Water Resource Climate Sensitivity in the Walker River Basin. NWRA Annual Conference: Sparks, NV, February 1, 2023
Boisramé, G., Carroll, R. W., Baah-Kumi, B., Taylor, M. (2023). Interdisciplinary Modeling of Water Resources’ Climate Sensitivity in the Walker River Basin. EWRI Congress: Henderson, NV, May 24, 2023
Boisramé, G. (2023). Forests, Farms, and Fires: Collaborative Studies to Prepare for an Uncertain Water Future. CUAHSI Biennial Colloquium: Tahoe City, CA, June 12, 2023
Boisramé, G. (2023). Fire’s Long-Term Impacts on Snowpack, Microclimates, and Soil Moisture. Yosemite Hydroclimate Meeting: Yosemite National Park and Virtual, October 12, 2023-October 13, 2023
Boisramé, G., Harpold, A., Stevens, J., Thompson, S., Stephens, S. (2023). Tracking Vegetation Recovery Following Mixed Severity Wildfires in the Sierra Nevada. AGU Fall Meeting: San Francisco, CA, December 15, 2023
Vahdat Aboueshagh, H., McKenna, S., Moosmüller, H., Boisramé, G., Sion, B. (2023). Calculation of Burn Severity Based on Physics of Wildfires. 2023 Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union: San Francisco, CA, December 11, 2023-December 15, 2023
2022
Boisramé, G. (2022). Drought and Wildfire in Yosemite’s Natural Fire Laboratory, Yosemite Hydroclimate Meeting: Yosemite National Park, October 13, 2022-October 14, 2022
Boisramé, G., Tague, N., Harpold, A. (2022). Relationships Between Snowpack, Low Flows, and Stream Temperature in Maritime Western U.S. Mountains, AGU Fall Meeting: Chicago, IL, December 12, 2022-December 16, 2022, GC35J-0812
Boisramé, G. (2022). Wildfire Impacts on Water Supply, California Society of American Foresters Winter Meeting: Virtual, March 18, 2022
Gordon, B., Harpold, A. H., Ajami, N. K., Albano, C., Boisramé, G., Carroll, R. W., Leonard, B. (2022). Headwater reservoir management must consider hydrological supply and agricultural demand in a future with less snowpack, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting: Chicago, IL, December 12, 2022-December 16, 2022
Gordon, B., Harpold, A., Ajami, N., Albano, C. M., Boisramé, G., Carroll, R. W., Leonard, B. (2022). Headwater Reservoir Management Must Consider Hydrological Supply and Agricultural Demand In a Future With Less Snowpack, American Geophysical Union: Chicago, IL, December 12, 2022-December 16, 2022
2021
Boisramé, G. (2021). Restoring wildfire increases landscape heterogeneity in a Sierra Nevada watershed. 9th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress: Virtual, November 30, 2021-December 3, 2021
Boisramé, G. (2021). Snowpack, soil moisture, and streamflow in Sierra Nevada watersheds with frequent wildfire. 9th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress: Virtual, November 30, 2021-December 3, 2021
Boisramé, G., Brown, T. J., Bachelet, D. (2021). Trends in Western US Fire Fuels Using Historical Data and Modeling. 9th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress, November 30, 2021-December 3, 2021
Boisramé, G., Carroll, R. W. (2021). Using machine learning to reduce computation time in a dynamically coupled water allocation & groundwater model. AGU Fall Meeting: Virtual, December 13, 2021-December 17, 2021
Boisramé, G. (2021). Lessons Learned from 50 Years of Restoring Wildfire to a Sierra Nevada Watershed. AGU Fall Meeting: Virtual, December 13, 2021-December 17, 2021
Boisramé, G., Carroll, R. W. (2021). Using machine learning to reduce computational time in a dynamically coupled water allocation and groundwater model. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting: New Orleans, LA, December 13, 2021-December 17, 2021
2020
Boisramé, G. (2020). Resilience Through Disturbance: The effect of wildfires on hydrology in California’s Sierra Nevada. Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists Meeting: Las Vegas, NV, February 11, 2020
Boisramé, G., Thompson, S. (2020). Repeated wildfires in a Sierra Nevada watershed cause limited post-fire erosion. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting: Virtual, December 7, 2020-December 11, 2020, H080-05
Boisramé, G. (2020). Impacts of Fire on Microclimates, Soil, and Vegetation in the Illilouette Creek Basin. Yosemite Hydroclimate Meeting: Virtual, October 15, 2020
Boisramé, G., Heintz, K. M. (2020). Characterizing the Hydrology of the Amargosa River Headwaters. DHS Colloquium: DRI Teams Meeting, December 4, 2020
2019
Boisramé, G., Thompson, S., Stephens, S., Rakhmatulina, E. (2019). Natural Wildfires Alter Sierra Nevada Hydrology. Gordon Research Conference – Catchment Science: Andover, NH, June 23, 2019-June 28, 2019
Boisramé, G. (2019). Resilience Through Disturbance: Wildfire’s Role in Maintaining Yosemite’s Meadows. Sierra Meadows Partnership Annual Gathering, May 16, 2019
Boisramé, G. (2019). Eco-Hydrology of Illilouette Creek Basin: Interactions of Droughts, Storms, and Fire. Yosemite Hydroclimate Meeting: Yosemite Village, CA, October 10, 2019
Boisramé, G., Thompson, S., Tague, C., Stephens, S., Rakhmatulina, E. (2019). Restoring a Natural Fire Regime Alters Streamflow, Snowpack, and Storage in a Sierra Nevada Catchment. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting: San Francisco, CA, December 11, 2019
Other
2024
Heintz, K. M.,
Saftner, D. M.,
Boisramé, G.,
Sasaki, M.,
Kruger, B. R. (2024).
Supplemental Dataset: Monitoring Groundwater Levels in Oasis Valley, NV, and Evaluating Potential Drawdown During the North Bullfrog Aquifer Test. Dryad
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0zpc8676t
2019
Boisramé, G. (2019). Tracking Water in Desert Soils. DRI Boulder City Open House: Boulder City, NV, November 6, 2019
