Principal Investigator
Doug P. Aubrey
Associate Professor, University of Georgia's
Savannah River Ecology Lab &
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
PhD Forest Ecophysiology 2011 - University of Georgia
MS Forest Biology 2004 - Missouri State University
BS Ecology, Evolution, & Systematics - Missouri State University
email: [email protected]
phone: 803.725.0135
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Postdoctoral Research Associates
Caren Custodio Mendonca
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Ph.D. in Forestry 2021 – Auburn University
B.S. in Forest Engineering 2016 – Sao Paulo State University
Caren is interested in exploring plants' physiological and growth responses to environmental factors and management practices. She aims to understand plant water use and carbon assimilation processes and their implications for natural and managed forest ecosystems.
email:[email protected]
Graduate Students
Silviya Joshi
PhD Student - (2025-current)
MSc Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation 2024 - University of Greifswald, Germany
Silviya is currently studying tree transpiration, sap flow, and forest water-use dynamics. She previously worked on peatland restoration and paludiculture, researching Typha biomass growth in rewetted peatlands.
email: [email protected]
PhD Student - (2025-current)
MSc Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation 2024 - University of Greifswald, Germany
Silviya is currently studying tree transpiration, sap flow, and forest water-use dynamics. She previously worked on peatland restoration and paludiculture, researching Typha biomass growth in rewetted peatlands.
email: [email protected]
Kianie David
PhD Student - (2025-current)
MS Biology 2025 - University of Nebraska
Kianie is an Integrative Conservation (ICON) PhD student and is currently researching the cambial phenology of longleaf pine. Her M.S. research studied Vachellia xanthophloea stand dynamics in Kruger National Park, South Africa. She is interested in dendrochronology, forest conservation, fire ecology, and the stories embedded within trees and forests.
email: [email protected]
Erin Doran
MS Student - (2024-current)
BS Biology 2021 - University of South Carolina Aiken
Erin is studying radiologically contaminated forest stands and developing protocols to release forest products from these sites. She is also interested in environmental remediation, restoration ecology and ecotoxicology.
email: [email protected]
MS Student - (2024-current)
BS Biology 2021 - University of South Carolina Aiken
Erin is studying radiologically contaminated forest stands and developing protocols to release forest products from these sites. She is also interested in environmental remediation, restoration ecology and ecotoxicology.
email: [email protected]
Ian Warr
MS Student - (2023-current)
BS Environmental Science 2022 - North Carolina State University
Ian is interested in longleaf pine carbon storage and how it could be affected by disturbance across life history stage. He is also generally interested in forest ecology, restoration ecology and fire ecology.
email: [email protected]
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Research Staff
Jacqueline Jacot
Lab Coordinator
BS Environmental Science and Policy 2015 - St. Edward's University
M.S. in Quantitative Methods 2018 - University of Glasgow
Jacqueline Jacot is a Research Paraprofessional for the Aubrey Lab and provides support for the Tritium Phytoremediation project and others within the lab. Her research experience includes the translocation of herbicide to non-target vegetation, the presence of microplastics in soil treated with sewage sludge, and phenotypic variation in eastern gamagrass ecotypes. She has had a long-held interest in radioecology and phytoremediation. All of her works have been reviewed by her cat and fellow scholar, Curie.
email: [email protected]
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Lab Coordinator
BS Environmental Science and Policy 2015 - St. Edward's University
M.S. in Quantitative Methods 2018 - University of Glasgow
Jacqueline Jacot is a Research Paraprofessional for the Aubrey Lab and provides support for the Tritium Phytoremediation project and others within the lab. Her research experience includes the translocation of herbicide to non-target vegetation, the presence of microplastics in soil treated with sewage sludge, and phenotypic variation in eastern gamagrass ecotypes. She has had a long-held interest in radioecology and phytoremediation. All of her works have been reviewed by her cat and fellow scholar, Curie.
email: [email protected]
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Lab Alum
Jennifer McDaniel
PhD Forest Resources 2026 - University of Georgia
Dissertation: Vegetation dynamics following prescribed fire: From foliar damage to ecosystem recovery
PhD Forest Resources 2026 - University of Georgia
Dissertation: Vegetation dynamics following prescribed fire: From foliar damage to ecosystem recovery
Jack Taylor
MS Forest Resources 2025 - University of Georgia
Thesis: Long-term impacts of various prescribed fire return intervals on tree growth and forest structure
MS Forest Resources 2025 - University of Georgia
Thesis: Long-term impacts of various prescribed fire return intervals on tree growth and forest structure
Fábio Henrique Silva Floriano de Toledo
Postdoctoral Research Associate 2021-2023 - University of Georgia
Postdoctoral Research Associate 2021-2023 - University of Georgia
- Toledo, F.H., T. McIntosh, C. Knothe, and D.P. Aubrey. 2020. Eucalyptus are unlikely to escape plantations and invade surrounding forests managed with prescribed fire in southeastern US. Forests, 11(6), 694.
Tyler McIntosh
MS Forest Resources 2023 - University of Georgia
Thesis: Understanding the Relative Importance of Forest Canopy Development and Leaf Litter Accumulation on Soil Evaporation
MS Forest Resources 2023 - University of Georgia
Thesis: Understanding the Relative Importance of Forest Canopy Development and Leaf Litter Accumulation on Soil Evaporation
Scott Oswald
PhD Forest Resources 2023 - University of Georgia
Dissertation: On the Dynamics of Nonstructural Carbohydrates in Woody Plants
PhD Forest Resources 2023 - University of Georgia
Dissertation: On the Dynamics of Nonstructural Carbohydrates in Woody Plants
- Oswald, S.W. and D.P. Aubrey. Modeling starch dynamics from seasonal variations of photosynthesis, growth, and respiration. Tree Physiology, In Press.
- Oswald, S.W. and D.P. Aubrey. Season of drought affects growth, but not nonstructural carbohydrates dynamics, in Pinus taeda saplings. Tree Physiology, In Press.
- Oswald, S.W. and D.P. Aubrey. 2020. Xeric tree populations exhibit delayed summer depletion of root starch relative to mesic counterparts. Forests, 11(10): 1026.
- Oswald, S.W., and D.P. Aubrey. 2018. Increasing biomass production on limited land area through an optimal planting arrangement. BioEnergy Research, 11(1): 13-21.
Suzie Henderson
MS Forest Resources 2022 - University of Georgia
Thesis: Modeling Needle Fuel Dispersal in Longleaf Pine-Dominated Forests
MS Forest Resources 2022 - University of Georgia
Thesis: Modeling Needle Fuel Dispersal in Longleaf Pine-Dominated Forests
- Blaydes, S., J. Cannon, and D.P. Aubrey. 2023. Modeling needle fuel dispersal in longleaf pine-dominated forests. Fire Ecology, 19:56.
Gabriel William Dias Ferreira
Postdoctoral Research Associate (2018-2022) - University of Georgia
Postdoctoral Research Associate (2018-2022) - University of Georgia
- Ferreira, G. W. D. and D.P. Aubrey. 2023. A functional trait framework for integrating nitrogen-fixing cover crops into short-rotation woody crop systems. GCB Bioenergy 15, 663-679.
- Ferreira, G. W. D., M.D. Coleman, D.R. Coyle, and D.P. Aubrey. 2023. Whole-tree dormant season nitrogen pools for different species receiving combinations of fertilization and irrigation after one short rotation. Forest Ecology and Management, 529: 120730.
- Ferreira, G.W.D., B.M. Rau, and D.P. Aubrey. 2021. Temporal nitrogen dynamics in intensively managed loblolly pine early stand development. Forest Ecology and Management, 483; 118890.
- Ferreira, G.W.D., B.M. Rau, and D.P. Aubrey. 2020. Herbicide, fertilization, and planting density effects on intensively managed loblolly pine early stand development. Forest Ecology and Management, 472: 118-206.
Ream Thomas
MS Forest Resources 2022 - University of Georgia
Thesis: Determining Fire Energy Dose Thresholds in Southeastern Tree Species.
MS Forest Resources 2022 - University of Georgia
Thesis: Determining Fire Energy Dose Thresholds in Southeastern Tree Species.
Seth Younger
PhD Forest Resources 2020 - University of Georgia
Dissertation: Forest Evapotranspiration in the Southeast United States: From Mixed Use Basins to Short Rotation Woody Crops
PhD Forest Resources 2020 - University of Georgia
Dissertation: Forest Evapotranspiration in the Southeast United States: From Mixed Use Basins to Short Rotation Woody Crops
- Younger, S. E., L.G. Monda, C.R. Jackson, J. Blake, and D.P. Aubrey. 2023. Little vertical and circumferential variations in stem xylem water δ2H and δ18O in three tree species. Trees-Structure and Function, 37:1401-1415.
- Younger, S. E., C.R. Jackson, M.J. Dix, P.V. Caldwell, and D.P. Aubrey. 2023. Evapotranspiration partitioning of Eucalyptus benthamii and Pinus taeda during early stand development. BioEnergy Research.
Ellie Fowler
MS Forest Resources 2019 - University of Georgia
Thesis: Does Canopy Complexity Influence Physiological Function and Contribute to Ecosystem Resilience of Old-Growth Longleaf Pine (Pinus Pailustris)?
MS Forest Resources 2019 - University of Georgia
Thesis: Does Canopy Complexity Influence Physiological Function and Contribute to Ecosystem Resilience of Old-Growth Longleaf Pine (Pinus Pailustris)?
Mackenzie Dix
MS Forest Resources 2019 - University of Georgia
Thesis:Assessing the Use and the Approach of Sap Flow Calibration in Trees
MS Forest Resources 2019 - University of Georgia
Thesis:Assessing the Use and the Approach of Sap Flow Calibration in Trees
- Dix, M.J. and D.P. Aubrey. 2021. Calibration approach and range of observed sap flow influences transpiration estimates from thermal dissipation sensors. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 307: 108534.
- Dix, M.J. and D.P. Aubrey. 2021. Recalibrating best practices, challenges, and limitations of estimating tree transpiration via sap flow. Current Forestry Reports, 7(1), 31-37.
Michael Belovitch
MS Forest Resources 2018 - University of Georgia
Thesis:Hydraulic Redistributrion: Roots to Ecosystems
MS Forest Resources 2018 - University of Georgia
Thesis:Hydraulic Redistributrion: Roots to Ecosystems
- Belovitch, M., S. Brantley, and D.P. Aubrey. 2022. Interspecific variation in the timing and magnitude of hydraulic redistribution in a forest with distinct water sources. Plant and Soil, 472: 451-464.
Stephen Ruswick
MS Forest Resources 2018 - University of Georgia
Thesis: The Response of Sweetgum after Top-Kill in Different Seasons of Burn
MS Forest Resources 2018 - University of Georgia
Thesis: The Response of Sweetgum after Top-Kill in Different Seasons of Burn
- Ruswick, S.K., J.J. O’Brien, and D.P. Aubrey. 2021. Carbon starvation is absent regardless of season of burn in Liquidambar styraciflua L. Forest Ecology and Management, 479: 118588.
Josh Mims
MS Biology 2015 - Georgia Southern University
Thesis: Nonstructural Carbohydrate Concentrations of Pine Trees as a Function of Evolutionary History
MS Biology 2015 - Georgia Southern University
Thesis: Nonstructural Carbohydrate Concentrations of Pine Trees as a Function of Evolutionary History
- Mims, J.T., J.J. O’Brien, and D.P. Aubrey. 2018. Belowground carbohydrate reserves of mature southern pines reflect seedling strategy to evolutionary history of disturbance. Forests, 9: 653.
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