Team Member Candid Photo

Sierra Phillips is a hydrologist and engineer who specializes in the computer simulation of complex environmental hydraulics problems. Initially focused on biology and ecology, Sierra is working to gain her engineering license. She currently divides her time between Balance Hydrologics and finishing her doctoral work at UC Davis in the Hydrologic Sciences Graduate Group. Working in the Pasternack Lab, Sierra is developing ecohydraulic tools within the River Architect software package to evaluate seedling recruitment potential for cottonwoods. She is experienced in a wide range of hydraulic and hydrologic modeling platforms such as TUFLOW, FLO-2D and HEC-RAS. She is also involved in Balance’s stream and wetland restoration practice, advancing designs from conceptual level to construction document preparation. In her free time, Sierra spends warmer months rock climbing, trail running, and gardening, and cooler months snowboarding, baking, knitting and crocheting. She strongly believes that soup is for every season, and you will often find her enjoying the company of her dog Baloo.

  • California E.I.T 165651
  • PhD Hydrologic Sciences, Earth Surface Processes specialization, University of California, Davis, 2024 (anticipated)
  • B.S. Hydrologic Sciences, Biology and Ecology emphasis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2014

AutoCAD, Ecohydraulics, Ecohydrology, GIS, Habitat Planning and Analysis, Hydrologic Monitoring, Hydrologic and Hydraulic Modeling, Hydrologics, Hydrology, Python, Restoration Design

Key Projects

  • Lower Bear Creek Meadow Restoration – Adaptive Management and Modeling Analysis, Placer County, California
  • Shalom Institute Post-Fire Flood and Inundation Study, Malibu, California
  • Big Bear Mountain Water Sufficiency Analysis, Big Bear Mountain, California

I love being able to work on technically challenging projects with a good blend of desktop and field approaches. Working on local projects that directly improve the beautiful environment we live and play in is a rewarding way to connect to with our community. We are living in a time of unprecedented ecological crisis. We spend a lot of our lives working, so I feel that my time and energy is best spent applying my expertise and skills to understanding how we can restore ecosystem function and natural physical processes in degraded environments. Balance provides the unique opportunity to put this understanding into practice.

The Walker River Watershed. Some of my earliest and fondest memories were made in the high montane meadows that the West Walker River flows through.

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