Congratulations to Olivia Ross for receiving the NSF GRFP!
Incoming PhD student, Olivia Ross, was recently awarded the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship! She proposed to test how climate-vegetation mismatches (VCMs) interact with fire to shape post-fire recovery of mixed conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada. Olivia will be joining the lab this summer and working with Jenny Cribbs to core white pines across a climate gradient in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
Michelle Mohr and wondergrad, Emily Sorenson, receive Schmidt Mentorship Award!
Congratulations to Michelle Mohr and Emily Sorenson, who were both selected for the Schmidt Environmental Solutions Summer Research Mentorship Award! They will be working in Yosemite and Sequoia Kings Canyon National Parks on a sugar pine project. The goal is to develop a holistic adaptation strategy to improve on-the-ground conservation outcomes. Sugar pines are lucky to have these incredible scientists supporting them!
Dudney wins ESA’s Early Career Section Outstanding Paper Award — 2nd place
Figure 1. Hypotheses of divergent, threshold drought responses across energy- and water-limited systems.
The LOC Lab’s first paper was recognized by the ESA’s ECS Outstanding Paper Award!
We found that divergent responses in tree rings, stable isotopes, and needle growth during drought were explained by the energy-water limitation threshold. This threshold marked the transition between energy and water limited growth that occurred in the subalpine zone of the Sierra Nevada. Even during a very extreme drought, energy-limited tree growth and photosynthesis increased, while water-limited tree growth declined, consistent with our general understanding of drought impacts on tree growth.
Dudney and colleagues awarded a Powell Center Synthesis grant!
In collaboration with co-PIs Lauren Toth (lead), Nate Lemoine, and Deron Burkepile, we are conducting a global synthesis of climate change impacts across marine and terrestrial ecosystems. This will be a multi-year endeavor and we’re very excited to begin!
The Yosemite PILA Expedition (YPE) is off to a great start!
Two crews and six amazing women are hiking into remote regions of Yosemite where very few people in the world have been. They’re navigated heat waves, 10 ft-tall shrubs, and very long days in the field with grit and humor. And they’re collecting data that will support sugar pine restoration for decades to come. Not much in life compares to a big field season in terms of challenging you to do things you never thought possible and becoming someone you didn’t know you could be. I am the luckiest PI to be able to work with these incredible women!
Interview with Joan Dudney on Water Talk!
“The drought for a tree is like going on this really long fast. Without food or water for an extended period of time any human being and any tree is going to become weak and unable to defend itself.”