Research Interests

My work is rooted in theory, concepts, and methods from ecology, biogeography, remote sensing and spatial analysis. Although my research has been rather broad, in the systems studied, approaches taken, and questions asked, there are several dominant themes. At the most basic level, I study interactions between biological and physical systems, with particular emphasis on how these dynamics produce geographic patterns and temporal dynamics in the biosphere. Typically, I pursue my work using some combination of field data, remote sensing and other spatial data, environmental models, and quantitative analysis. Within this general context, I have focused my research on plant-water relations in California chaparral, ecosystem response to climate variability, patterns and causes of biodiversity, and habitat conservation. My research has spanned spatial scales from intercellular to global, but I gravitate towards what might be called “landscape” to “regional” scales.