Raymond Leroy LeBeau - M.S. in Geographic Information Science - College of Science & Engineering
Raymond Leroy LeBeau is a member of the Pit River Tribe in northeastern California with Cahuilla and Lakota family relations. He says his scientific interests really began when he was exposed to geographic information science as an undergraduate. As a Geographic Information Science master’s student at SF State, he had a personal interest in researching meadow systems.
He joined the University’s Geography department just as it was starting its Red Clover Valley project assessing innovative ways to restore and protect montane meadows in the Sierra Nevada. Beyond its scientific implications, the project could inform how to protect local communities from the impacts of climate change, such as earlier snowmelts. For his thesis, LeBeau led the effort to map a huge field site using high-resolution drone imaging and analyzed changes in cut meadow stream channels after meadow restoration activities.
LeBeau is proud that his experiences in the Sierra Nevada extended beyond his thesis project. He worked with youth from the local Mountain Maidu community to install artificial beaver dams that mimic real dams and attract beavers to restored wetlands. He also helped support vegetation sampling and carbon flux measurements and even cleared cattle trespassing in an enclosure around the creek.
As a graduate student, LeBeau has been supported by several scholarships including the Cobell Scholarship and American Indian College Fund (AICF) Scholarships. He has been working in a student position with the U.S. Geological Survey and hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in the future.