I am a broadly trained ecologist interested in understanding how terrestrial ecosystems are functioning in the context of global change. My research work integrates satellite and airborne remote sensing, ecological big data, and advanced statistical models at scales ranging from individual trees to the entire globe. Specifically, I am interested in quantifying the regeneration potentials of global forests, including the variations in seed productions and seedling recruits, and how they relate to climate, habitat, species traits, and the consumers reliant on them. I also develop novel approaches to quantify habitat characteristics from remote sensing (e.g., LiDAR and imaging spectroscopy), and I use advanced statistical models to predict how habitat modulate global change impacts on biodiversity change.

I worked as a postdoc with Dr. Jim Clark and Dr. Jennifer Swenson at the Nicholas School of Environment at Duke University. For my doctoral research, I worked with Drs. Conghe Song, Jim Clark, Erika Wise, Diego Riveros-Iregui, and Allen Hurlbert to understand the ways in which vegetation phenology is influenced by climate change, extreme weather events, and urbanization.

Xiaolu is interested in the interactions between plant phenology, terrestrial ecosystems, and the climate system. She uses a combination of ground observations, remote sensing records, statistical models, and Earth system models to (1) characterize the biodiversity-phenology-climate relationship and how it influences ecosystem structure and reproduction; (2) assess phenology variability and improve phenology modeling in Earth system models; and (3) investigate phenology impacts on land-atmosphere interactions. She worked with Dr. Toby R. Ault for her postdoctoral and dissertation research work.

Hanshi is a Ph.D. student in the Intercollege graduate degree program in Ecology. Her research interests focus on understanding the complex interactions between terrestrial ecosystem and human societies. She is interested in quantifying the responses of vegetation to climate change and understanding the subsequent impact of these responses on ecosystem services, which are crucial for well-being of both human and wildlife. She worked with Dr. Weiqiang Chen and Dr. Hua Cai at the Institute of Urban Environment at Chinese Academy of Sciences before joining Penn State as a Ph.D. student.

Yu Wei is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management. She is interested in understanding forest biodiversity using combined LiDAR and hyperspectral remote sensing. Her research projects focus on applying deep learning and other advanced computing models to understand how climate and habitat change influence forest ecosystem functions. She has a very strong background in remote sensing and worked with Dr. Mi Wang at the State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS) at Wuhan University.

Fin is an undergraduate research assistant/technician in the lab. His main role is working on a new seed dispersal project and small unmanned aircraft operations for imagery and LIDAR data creation along with processing and analyzing that data.