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Rachel M Atkins, PhD

Rachel is a scientist with a background in fluvial geomorphology, geospatial and statistical analysis.

Rachel began at the USGS in 2021 as a Pathways Recent Graduate hire at the Utah Water Science Center. She is involved in a variety of multi- and transdisciplinary projects spanning various spatial scales in collaboration with researchers across the country. Some of these projects include investigating salinity in the Upper Colorado River Basin and water quality at Bear Lake (ID-UT border). She is also a member of the Geospatial Analysis and Applications Core Technology Team (CTT), a group of geoscientists, programmers, and statisticians focused on questions related to contaminants and environmental health across spatial scales.

In addition to her scientific contributions at USGS, she is also actively involved in several diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to improve the experiences of current and future employees and to elevate the scientific contributions of USGS by fostering a more diverse workforce.