B.S., The Evergreen State College
M.S. Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ray works on vegetation ecology and mapping at INR. She is fascinated by the plants of the Pacific Northwest and by the changes to plant species distributions and plant communities that occur over decades to centuries. For her master's work, Ray researched decadal shifts in a native Hawaiian cloud forest. Ray is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Oregon State University where her research focuses on high resolution mapping of existing vegetation in the Washington Olympics and Cascades.
Current INR projects include:
- Working with the National Park Service to map vegetation communities in the National Parks of Washington State
- Economically monitoring riparian vegetation with air photos
- Monitoring plant communities in Research Natural Areas
- Plant Community Classification in Oregon