Kelly-10

Kelly Siman

Academic Qualifications

PhD. in Integrated Biosciences, Biomimetics, University of Akron

M.Sc. in Geography, Virginia Tech

B.Sc. in Aviation Business, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Research Areas

Biomimicry, social-ecological resilience, coastal modeling, nature and biomimicry-based climate solutions, historical political ecology, geopolitical risk

Research Interests

Sitting at the nexus of science, technology, and policy, Dr. Siman works towards the betterment of humanity’s climate change grand challenge.  Her work is focused on social-ecological coastal resilience modeling to identify areas to invest in nature-based and biomimetic solutions, historical political ecology to identify cross-scale structural change, combined with a strong policy focus to drive implementation.

Biography

Dr. Siman brings diverse international professional and academic experience to CNCS.  She has worked in academic, governance, and non-profit institutions across the United States, Antarctic, and Asia-Pacific, including previous appointments in Singapore.  She was the Biomimicry Coastal Resiliency and Innovation Fellow working on policy and coastal resilience modeling for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Senior Research Scientist for the Cleveland Water Alliance, and Research Fellow for Project Drawdown. She is also Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer for Erie Open Systems, LLC – an open source technology company that works to gather low-cost environmental monitoring data.  Previously, she was Managing Director of the Pacific Voyagers Foundation and Senior Research Assistant at the LKYSPP. Dr. Siman volunteers significant time to science and community outreach.  Her latest endeavor is working with a PBS Television children’s show to produce and co-create water and nature-based science segments.

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

  1. 2022 Social-Ecological Risk and Vulnerability to Erosion and Flooding Along the Ohio Lake Erie Shoreline. Siman, Kelly; Kramar, David; Mackey, Scudder. Journal of Coastal Management. January, 2022.
  2. 2021 An open-source dual-beam spectrophotometer for citizen-science-based water quality monitoring. Feng, Jiansheng; Khakipoor, Banafsheh; May, Jacob; Mulford, Melissa; Davis, Joshua; Siman, Kelly; Russell, Gabrielle; Smith, Adam W.; King, Hunter. HardwareX. (10). October, 2021.
  3. 2021 Historical Political Ecology as Qualitative Regime Stable State Analysis in the Maumee River Watershed. Siman, Kelly and Niewiarowski, Peter. Ecology and Society. May, 2021
  4. 2021 Global potential and limits of mangrove blue carbon for climate change mitigation. Zeng, Yiwen; Friess, Daniel A.; Sarira, Tasya Vadya; Siman, Kelly; Koh, Lian Pin. Current Biology. February, 2021.
  5. 2021 Carbon prospecting in tropical forests for climate change mitigation. Koh, Lian Pin; Zeng, Yiwen; Sarira, Tasya Vadya; Siman, Kelly. Nature Communications. February, 2021.
  6. 2020 The Business Case for Natural Climate Solutions: Insights and Opportunities for Southeast Asia. Raghav, S., Siman, K., Gross, A., Wu, A., Zeng, Y., Comstock, M., Zhang, J., Yoshioka, J.-R., Kanakasabai, M., Prakash, L., Howard, J., Roopsind, A., Sarira, T. V., Carrasco, L. R., Koenig, K., Schoenberg, A., Tabor, K., Griscom, B., Aya Uraguchi, R., … Koh, L. P. Temasek Ecosperity. December, 2020.
  7. 2020 Developing a Social-Ecological Quantitative Coastal Resilience Model to the Ohio Lake Erie Shoreline: Methods, Management Recommendations, and Applications to the Great Lakes System. Siman, Kelly, Kramar, David, and Mackey, Scudder. Ohio Department of Natural Resources, State of Ohio Technical Report. Accepted – To be published end of 2020
  8. 2020 A systematic test of citizen accessible nutrient tests with open source hardware. Siman, Kelly; May, Jacob; Russell, Gabrielle; Khakipoor, Banafsheh; Feng, Jiansheng; King, Hunter; Smith, Adam. Science of the Total Environment. In Process
  9. 2020 Dual-beam, Visible-spectrum spectrophotometer for large-scale water quality monitoring by Citizen Scientists. Khakipoor, Banafsheh; Siman, Kelly; May, Jacob; Russell, Gabrielle; Feng, Jiansheng; Smith, Adam; King, Hunter. Hardware X. In Process
  10. 2020 Historical Political Ecology as Qualitative Regime Shift Analysis in the Maumee River Watershed. Siman, Kelly and Niewiarowski, Peter. Ecology and Society, In Process.
  11. 2020 Social-Ecological Coastal Resilience Risk and Vulnerability to Erosion and Flooding for the Ohio Lake Erie Shoreline. Siman, Kelly, Kramar, David, and Mackey, Scudder. Journal of Coastal Management. In Process.
  12. 2020 Ohio Historical Wave Information Studies Collated by Season and Decade: 1975-2014 Dataset. Siman, Kelly. Hydroshare Open Source Database.
  13. 2020 Ohio Water Level Variability Collated by Season and Decade: 1975-2014 Dataset. Siman, Kelly. Hydroshare Open Source Database.
  14. 2019 A 3D-printable dual beam spectrophotometer with multi-platform smartphone adaptor. Bogucki, Ryan; Greggila, Mary; Mallory, Paul; Feng, Jiansheng; Siman, Kelly; Khakipoor, Banafsheh; King, Hunter; Smith, Adam. The Journal of Chemical Education, June, 2019.

Edited Book Chapters

  1. 2022 Biomimetic course design exploration for improved NASA zero gravity exercise equipment in Biomimicry for Aerospace. Gruber, Petra; Engelhardt, Sebastian; Siman, Kelly; Stachew, Elena; Perusek. Edited by: Vikram Shyam. Elsevier Books. 2022. In Press.
  2. 2017 Project Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. Edited by: Paul Hawken. Penguin Books. Building and Cities: Green and Cool Roofs. 256pgs.

Grey Literature

  1. Nature-based Solutions for Climate Mitigation: Challenges and Opportunities for the ASEAN Region. Siman, K., Friess, D. A., Huxham, M., McGowan, S., Drewer, J., Koh, L. P., Zeng, Y., Lechner, A. M., Lee, J. S. H., Evans, C. D., Evers, S., Sancho, J. J., Varkkey, H., Anshari, G., Jaya, A., Chong, K. Y., Page, S., Mishra, S., & Sjögersten, S. 36pp. British High Commission and the COP26 Universities Network. October, 2021.
  2. Voluntary Carbon Markets in ASEAN: Challenges and Opportunities for Scaling Up. Rosales, Raúl; Bellino, Priya; Elnahass, Marwa; Heubaum, Harald L.; Lim, Philip; Lemaistre, Paul; Siman, Kelly; Sjögersten. 37pp. British High Commission and the COP26 Universities Network. October, 2021.
  3. Addressing the Climate Change and Biodiversity Nexus. Siman, Kelly; Ng, Debby; Fung, Tze Kwan; Zeng, Yiwen; Koh Lian Pin. 16-17pp. ASEANFocus: Biodiversity Conservation in ASEAN. September, 2021.
  4. The Business Case for Natural Climate Solutions: Insights and Opportunities for Southeast Asia. Raghav, S., Siman, K., Gross, A., Wu, A., Zeng, Y., Comstock, M., Zhang, J., Yoshioka, J.-R., Kanakasabai, M., Prakash, L., Howard, J., Roopsind, A., Sarira, T. V., Carrasco, L. R., Koenig, K., Schoenberg, A., Tabor, K., Griscom, B., Aya Uraguchi, R., … Koh, L. P. Temasek Ecosperity. December, 2020

Datasets

  1. Ohio Lake Erie Shoreline wave height data by season 1974-2014. Siman, K., D. Kramar (2021). HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/7e6825f918934e3d9a15e910c8278ac8.
  2. Lake Erie Water Level Data by Season: 1978-2018. Siman, K., D. Kramar (2021). HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/5ca1981e86b74c7096fe9780a322c789.

Feature and publications in popular media

  1. Channel News Asia Why it Matters. Biomimicry and Technology in Aeronautics. NASA, Seal whiskers, and Aeronautics. Talent. Airdate: January, 4 2022.
  2. Channel News Asia Mindblown. Episode 4, Meat, children’s science show (7-12yo). Talent and script writer. 2021.
  3. PBS WVIZ NewsDepth. Women in Science - Biomimicry Careers, gecko adhesion, 2020.
  4. NPR WCPN IdeaStream – Panel Speaker Sound of Ideas. Global Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and Advancements in Biomimicry. 2017.
  5. NPR All Things Considered. Hacking Lake Erie: Tech Competition Seeks Solutions to Water-Related Problems. 2017.
  6. 2021-2022. PBS WVIZ Spot on Science, Water Series – Producer / Talent (filming delayed due to C19)
  7. PBS WVIZ NewsDepth. Spot on Science – Biomimicry – Talent
  8. NPR WCPN Ideastream Sound of Ideas – Panel Talent. Global Entrepreneurs-in-Residence & Advancements in Biomimicry
  9. NPR, All Things Considered – Talent. Hacking Lake Erie: Tech Competitions Seeks Solutions to Water-Related Problems
  10. BBC World News, Live Asia Business Report with Rico Hizon. CITES and Blue Fin Tuna

Conference and presentations

  1. 2019 Social-Ecological Coastal Resilience Risk and Vulnerability to Erosion for the Ohio Lake Erie Shoreline. Biomimicry Fellow Research Symposium, Poster. Akron, Ohio, September 12. Kelly Siman, David Kramar
  2. 2018 Social-Ecological Network Structures of Lake Erie Water Quality Management. International Association of Great Lakes Research (IAGLR). Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 18-22. Kelly Siman, Meghan Klasic, Rachel Lamb, Vannessa Vargas, Kelsey Leonard, Bereket Isaac Negassi
  3. 2018 Open-Source Spectrometer for Citizen Science Monitoring of Nutrient Loading . International Association of Great Lakes Research (IAGLR). Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 18-22. Hunter King, Kelly Siman, Jiansheng Feng, Banafsheh Khakipoor, Adam Smith.
  4. 2018 DIY Spectroscopy for Citizen Science Nutrient Monitoring. Akron Global Water Alliance University of Akron. Akron, OH, May 30 – June 1. Kelly Siman, Banafsheh Khakipoor, Jiansheng Feng, Adam Smith, Hunter King.
  5. 2018 Beyond Sustainability: Cultivating Social-Ecological Resilience in the Anthropocene – _Applied Solutions from Project Drawdown. New York State Green Building Conference Syracuse, New York, April 5-6.
  6. 2017 Using Biomimetic Approaches to Cultivate Social-Ecological Resilience of Lake Erie Coastal Shoreline Systems. Resilience: Resilience Frontiers for Global Sustainability Stockholm Sweden, August 20-23
  7. 2017 Biomimetic Case Exploration: Potential Improvements to Ropes for Exercise Equipment on Long Duration Space Missions. NASA Nature-Inspired Exploration for Aerospace Summit, Poster. Cleveland, Ohio, October 4-6. Kelly Siman, Elena Stachew, Sebastian Engelhardt, Sara Santos
  8. 2017 DIY Spectroscopy for Nutrient Monitoring. Akron Global Water Alliance. University of Akron. Akron, OH, May 31 – June 1