Katherine Culbertson

PhD Student

I am interested in the drivers of successful tropical forest landscape restoration, and the co-benefits of forest restoration for biodiversity and ecosystem services. After college, I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer ('19-'20) in eastern Madagascar, working with community leaders to empower farmers to start and scale multi-strata agroforestry systems, as well as to increase the prevalence of native trees in agricultural landscapes. Inspired by this work, I am centering my dissertation research on rainforest regeneration and restoration in Madagascar.

I have also previously studied the behavioral ecology of Anolis lizards, microbial ecology in prairie streams, and monarch butterfly migration.

Education

University of California, Berkeley, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (Ph.D, 2021-present)

Harvard University, Environmental Science and Public Policy (A.B., 2018)

Research Interests / Specializations:

ecosystem restoration, tropical rainforest ecology, ecosystem services

Selected Publications

Holl, K.D., Ashton, M.S., Bukoski, J.J., Culbertson, K.A., Curran, S.R., Harris, T.B., Potts, M.D., Valverde, Y.L. and Vincent, J.R. (2022). Redefining “abandoned” agricultural land in the context of reforestation. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, p.163. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.933887

Culbertson, K. A., Treuer, T. L., Mondragon‐Botero, A., Ramiadantsoa, T., & Reid, J. L. (2022). The eco‐evolutionary history of Madagascar presents unique challenges to tropical forest restoration. Biotropica. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.13124

Culbertson, K.A., Garland, M.S., Walton, R.K., Zemaitis, L., Pocius, V.M. (2022). Long-Term Monitoring Indicates Shifting Migration Timing in Eastern Coastal Population of Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus). Global Change Biology. https:// doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15957

Rabe, A. M., Herrmann, N. C., Culbertson, K. A., Donihue, C. M., & Prado-Irwin, S. R. (2020). Post-hurricane shifts in the morphology of island lizards. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 130(1), 156-165. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa022

Culbertson, K. A., & Herrmann, N. C. (2019). Asymmetric interference competition and niche partitioning between native and invasive Anolis lizards. Oecologia, 190(4), 811-820. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04466-1

Honors and Awards