My research focuses on the effects of climate, disturbances, and land use on mountain forest ecosystems in the U.S. and in Europe. Important recent research themes include: 1) the causes and consequences of forest disturbances such as fires and insect outbreaks, 2) the effects of climate on tree mortality and forest dieback, 3) interactions and feedbacks among forest disturbances under climatic variability, and 4) resilience and management of ecological systems in the Anthropocene.

I have authored over 70 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters with coauthors from over 20 different countries on various aspects of ecology and ecosystem management. I have been widely interviewed in the popular press, have testified about my research before the United States Congress on three occasions, and work actively with governmental and nongovernmental organizations in the States and abroad.

Prior to joining the Clark faculty, I was a research scientist at the University of Colorado-Boulder and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos. I earned a B.S. in Environmental Resource Management and a M.S. in Ecology at Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in Geography at the University of Colorado-Boulder.