Sustainability Leadership Fellow Cohort: 2021-2022

Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship and the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology

Research Summary: As temperatures warm, species are expected to migrate to cooler areas to remain within their suitable climate zone. However, trees may not be able to keep pace with accelerated climate warming through migration due to their long generation times and sessile nature. This is exacerbated in areas where current forest cover is preventing future forests from establishing. Therefore, disturbances that cause substantial canopy mortality may provide opportunities for tree species to migrate. My research investigates how climate change and disturbance events like fire and bark beetle outbreaks are changing the distributions of tree species across the intermountain western United States.