Sustainability Leadership Fellow Cohort: 2021-2022

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

Research Summary: Many trees do not produce seeds every year. Rather, populations synchronously erupt in episodic years of abundant seed production followed by one or more years of crop failures. This is called masting, and the boom and bust variability in seed production exerts cascading impacts on tree recruitment, wildlife populations, and disease outbreaks. My research explores the causes and consequences of masting in two dry conifers of the western US, using a network of sites spanning habitats from southern New Mexico to South Dakota. I aim to develop forecasts of masting to aid conservation planning and ecosystem management decisions.