My research interests include biogeography, forest dynamics, and human and climatic causes of ecological change.  I like to apply quantitative methods, such as dendrochronology, spatial analysis, and time series analysis to answer questions about human interactions with ecological systems.   Current projects are described below.

Reconstructing Climate from Eastern Redcedar

I am currently working with several graduate students and several collaborators on a variety of studies of Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana).  Eastern Redcedar is long lived (500+ yrs.) on limestone outcrops of the Ridge and Valley province.  In addition, sub-fossil wood is preserved for several centuries on dry sites.  Preliminary data indicate that several sites in West Virginia contain subfossil eastern redcedar wood sufficient to develop a millennial-length hydroclimatic reconstruction of Potomac River flow.  We are taking a multi-proxy approach to reconstruct hydroclimate variables, including earlywood:latewood ratios and C and O isotopic signatures recorded in the tree rings (Richard Thomas, WVU Biology). This long reconstruction would allow water managers to gain a long term perspective on 20th and 21st century droughts and pluvial events.  

Fire History and Climate

I have worked for more than ten years on relationships between fire and climate in  western North America and more recently in central Asia (Mongolia).   In 2008,  Neil Pederson (Eastern Kentucky University),  Peter Brown (Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research), Nachin Baatarbileg, (National University of Mongolia) and I were awarded an National Science Foundation Grant (Ecosystem Sciences) to explore the fire history of Mongolia's arid forests.  This project developed following the 2006 International Dendrochronological Fieldweek in Mongolia and is focused on exploring the relationship between fire, climate and forest history in the context of climate change.  Learn more here.

In central Washington, I worked with Don McKenzie at FERA (USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station) to investigate the relationship between climate and fire in the Eastern Cascades.  We conducted a multi-scale analysis of the relationships between climate, topography, and spatio-temporal patterns in historical fire regimes in the inland Pacific Northwest, using existing fire history data from the Okanogan-Wenatchee and Colville National Forests.  Our initial objectives were to identify the primary constraints on fire occurrence and fire extent at three spatial scales: points, watersheds and national forests.  More recently we have been using the same dataset to develop new approaches for understanding the spatial characteristics of paleo-fires.

Terrestrial Carbon Sequstration