News Article

iUTAH is excited to welcome two new members of the iUTAH team. We would like to introduce you to the new Assistant Director, Andy Leidolf and the new Outreach Assistant, Caitlyn Lewis:

Assistant Director/Project Administrator, Andy Leidolf

Andreas (Andy) Leidolf is native of Munich, Germany, but has called Logan, Utah, his home since 1996.

Andy received a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry/Wildlife Management from Mississippi State University in 1995. He pursued his graduate education at Utah State University (USU), where he received a Master of Science degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Ecology in 1999.

He served as an Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, from 2006-2007. Prior to that, he had been involved in teaching and research at USU’s College of Natural Resources for over ten years. In 2008, Andy returned to USU, first as a Research Fellow, and later as Assistant Research Program Administrator for the Plant Ecophysiology Lab, a position he left in 2013 upon the lab’s closure.

Andy’s research and scholarly interests include natural resource use, management, and sustainability; disturbance ecology, including both natural and anthropogenic disturbance; and avian ecology and conservation. He has co-authored seven peer-reviewed articles in international, national, regional, and state scientific journals on topics ranging from Black Prairie plant floristics to the effects of stand-replacing wildfire on avian species assemblages. He is also passionate about teaching, particularly to non-scientific learners, and is a keen follower of politics and policy, particularly where science and natural resource issues are concerned.

In his free time, Andy enjoys Logan’s great outdoors, with interests that encompass hiking, camping, and cross-country skiing. He loves to cook and entertain, and is an avid collector of stamps and postal history and—more recently—single malt scotch. He also loves to travel, both in the US and abroad, having been to Scotland, Iceland, Nova Scotia, and the San Juan Islands just in 2014.

Outreach Assistant, Caitlyn Lewis

Caitlyn was born and raised in Idaho Falls, Idaho but has made Logan, Utah a place in her heart. She is current graduate at Utah State University where she received her Bachelor's degree in Communication Studies. This is where she studied the role communication plays in creating and maintaining human organizations and societies. Logan is also where she fell in love with the outdoors while working for the National Aquatic Monitoring Center and the Forest Service.

If you can't get a hold of her she is probably enjoying the mountain air while mountain biking, hiking, or trail running with her furry companion, Dusty. She has passion for communications but also for natural resources and conservation. With a growing population and climate change posing challenges, she thinks it's crucial to educate people on how to protect our precious resources. As a new employee she is excited to work with iUTAH, creating outreach material for stakeholders in hopes to preserve Utah's water.