My research is on climate solutions and water resource resilience, with a focus on water equity and understanding the social context in which science is applied. Primarily, I use isotope hydrology to track groundwater resources through managed aquifer recharge projects, in groundwater dependent ecosystems, and mountain catchment headwaters. I use stable and naturally-occurring low-level radioactive isotopes to understand the connections between atmospheric processes, surface waters, and groundwaters. I value working with community and local government leadership to develop research questions and interpret scientific research.

I previously was a UC Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA in the Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, the American Indian Studies Center, and the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science. Here, my research focused on hydrological response to climate change and Indigenous management of wetland ecosystems. I earned my PhD at the University of Utah Department of Geology and Geophysics and Center for Global Change and Sustainability in 2021 using isotope geochemistry to understand resilient water resource use on community scales.

I am committed to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice within the scientific community and more broadly through the development and application of scientific research.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1615-3530

2021, Ph.D., Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

2020, Global Change and Sustainability Center Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

2013, B.A., Geosciences, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Lerback, Bowen, Bagge, Heberer, Cocke, and Bricker. 2024. Bonneville Basin Critical Zones: Spring Chemistry and Gastropod Ecology in Playa-Margin Wetlands. Utah Geological Association Publication 51, 1-18. DOI: 10.31711/ugap.v51i.144

Lerback, Bagge, Bowen. Evaluation of aqueous gastropod shells as groundwater radiocarbon proxies across species and sites. 2023. Radiocarbon. DOI: 10.1017/RDC.2022.103

Lerback, Holt, St. Pierre, Putman, Tulley-Cordova, Smith, Caughman, and Alvarez. 2022. Community Voices: Achieving real diversity in STEM requires the ability to transform institutions. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27376-4

Lerback, Bowen, Humphrey, Fernandez, Bernau, Macfarlan, Schniter, and Garcia. 2022. Geochemistry and provenance of springs in a Baja California Sur mountain catchment. Groundwater. 60(2): p.295-308. DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13177

Lerback, Hanson, and Wooden, 2020. Association between author diversity and acceptance rates and citations. in peer‐reviewed earth science manuscripts. Earth and Space Science. 7(5): p.e2019EA000946.

Lerback, Hynek, Bowen, Bradbury, Solomon, and Fernandez. 2019. Springwater provenance and flowpath evaluation in Blue Lake, Bonneville basin, Utah. Chemical Geology. 529: p.119280.

Lerback and Hanson. 2017. Journals invite too few women to referee. Nature. 541: p.455–457. DOI: 10.1038/541455a

• 2021 – 2023, University of California Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship
• 2022, UCLA Center for Diverse Leadership in Science Early Career Fellow
• 2017, Shlemon Scholar for Engineering Geologists
• 2016 – 2018, University of Utah Global Change and Sustainability Fellow