Shelby Corning

Biography

Shelby Corning is a guest research assistant in the Agriculture, Forestry, and Ecosystem Services Research Group of the IIASA Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program. Her current research is largely focused on the utilization of machine learning and cloud computing technology for disturbance detection, forest management, and wildfire risk modeling.

Corning started at IIASA as an intern as part of her master's program, where she researched historical wildfire occurrence in Rocky Mountain National Park using cloud computing and remote sensing time series. Before coming to IIASA, her work included a wide range of experiences in the natural resources field, from hiking trail construction and volunteer coordination, to wildfire mitigation and forest management, to plant and wildlife monitoring, as well as several seasons as a ski medic at a ski resort in Colorado, USA.

She received a BSc in Environmental Sciences from the University of Rochester in NY, USA and is currently completing her MSc in European Forestry through the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna. Her thesis is on machine learning methods for forest disturbance detection in the Wienerwald Biosphere Reserve.

Outside of research, she is an avid runner, reader, and all-around outdoorswoman.


Last update: 12 SEP 2022