INSTAAR researcher Peyton Thomas has been awarded the Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship for Faculty Diversity from CU Boulder. She joins Sophie Chien in Environmental Design and Liannie Velázquez-Santana in Geological Sciences as recipients of this year’s fellowships.
A fish physiologist who studies the impacts of a changing climate on fish growth trajectories, Thomas is a postdoctoral scholar at INSTAAR and in the Environmental Studies program. She is studying the growth potential of Arctic fishes across Interior Alaska and Canadian Yukon Territories through bioenergetics modeling as part of the Arctic Rivers Project. This project is working to incorporate Indigenous Knowledge into research questions, model parameters, and model outputs to help understand how northern fish and communities may adapt to climate change.
Thomas is also a world-class competitive runner. Recent stories in Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine and Patagonia Stories share more about Thomas’ community activism, life, and work.
The Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship for Faculty Diversity is awarded to postdoctoral scholars whose research, teaching, and/or service contribute to diversity in higher education. The one-year fellowship provides fellows with protected time for scholarship or research in preparation for a tenure-track faculty position.
The Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship for Faculty Diversity is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and administered by the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs.
Peyton Thomas (center) with advisor Cassandra Brooks (left) in Alaska.
