Dissertation Title
Leveraging paleo, historical, and modern records to understand the effects of management and fire on forest carbon biomass
A little more about Clarke:
I am a paleoecologist with longstanding interests in the historical ecology of conifer forests in California. My research has spanned multiple data types and proxies, including pollen from lake sediments, archival records, historical evidence, and modern forest inventories. With my dissertation, I document forest dynamics at different spatial scales over three millennia in the Klamath Mountains and provide a meaningful benchmark for land managers by indicating the scale of intervention needed to move California forests closer to their long-term historical conditions.
Acknowledgement by Clarke:
I am grateful to my advisors, John Battles and Matthew Potts, who have been superb intellectual guides over the past five years. Thank you for being available, kind, and good-humored advisors who always had my back. My committee members David Wahl and Wayne Sousa have provided considerable support as well, and I am thankful for their efforts. I have also been fortunate enough to collaborate with exceptional Quaternary paleo-ecologists, including Jim Wanket, Dave Wahl, Lysanna Anderson, and Marie Champagne. The projects described in this dissertation could not have succeeded without the many collaborators who help me, particularly Charlie Cogbill, Jane Bunting, Mark Baskaran, Scott Mensing, Anna Patterson, and Frank Lake. I am grateful for the Karuk and Yurok Tribes’ generosity in sharing sovereign knowledge and for their collaboration on projects. Thank you to Jenn Kusler, Tara Harmon, Jackie Edinger, Perry Scott, Alejandro Anasal, and Elise Carrell for working so hard in rugged and remote field sites. My PhD journey was improved by the friendships and camaraderie I experienced in the Battles, Potts, Stephens, and “FREAC” lab groups. I thank all the ESPM cohorts for their efforts towards improving our department for future students. Lastly, thank you to ESPM’s dedicated administrators (Ryann Madden, Lyn Rivera, and Bianca Victorica) who keep our department running smoothly.