Ashley Grace Hillis
UW Honors Graduates
Ashley Grace Hillis

Environmental Science and Resource Management
Designation: Departmental Honors
Honors Grads 2019/2020
Proudest Moment: In ESRM 315, we took a field trip to Mount St. Helens and had a tour of a forest lead by Jerry Franklin. He is an inspiration in the forestry world, so getting to meet him was an amazing opportunity.
Thesis: The Effects of Stand Age, Species, and Geographic Location on Seed Counts Within Serotinous Cones
ashleyhillis2020@gmail.comHi! My name is Ashley Hillis and I am graduating with a degree in ESRM with a focus in forest management and with departmental honors. My time at UW has been filled with so many research opportunities that have provided invaluable experience. For instance, I worked with two different UW grad students in the Quantitative Ecology lab monitoring different types of animals. I also worked for the center in urban horticulture collecting data on the beautiful cherries trees at UW to help make a model to predict when they will bloom. I also took my research interest outside of UW and did a summer of fieldwork with Pacific Wildland Fire Science Lab. I spent the summer under the California sun measuring vegetation and tree DBH in high severity burned areas. When I came back to UW I spent my senior year continuing research in fire disturbances by studying serotinous cones and different variables that affect the seeds they contain. I did this work under the guidance of Michelle Agne a Ph.D. student in the Harvey Lab. Over the summer I will continue doing work with the Harvey lab doing fieldwork. In the future, I plan on continuing my passion for environmental science and attending graduate school.