Jason Fridley

Jason Fridley serves as a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences within Clemson University's College of Science, conducting research on plant community organization, ecosystem processes, and responses to environmental change.

He holds a PhD in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2002) and a BA in Natural Sciences from Bennington College (1997).

His research spans four major interconnected domains:

• Global plant invasions focusing on shade-tolerant woody species dynamics in American forests
• Topographic controls on montane vegetation using long-term monitoring in Great Smoky Mountains and Rocky Mountain National Parks
• Climate change impacts through the decades-long Buxton Climate Change Impacts Lab experiment in England
• Scale-dependent biodiversity patterns integrating genetic diversity with ecosystem function

The Fridley Lab employs interdisciplinary approaches spanning genomics, physiology, climatology, and landscape ecology to address fundamental questions in plant community ecology.