Stephanie Pau

Stephanie Pau is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, holding a joint appointment in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management and the Department of Geography. Her research focuses on understanding how terrestrial ecosystems respond to climate change, particularly through the integration of remote sensing technology with field measurements. She investigates plant-environment interactions, biodiversity’s role in ecosystem functions, and the application of satellite, drone, and ground-based observations to map ecological processes at landscape scales.

Dr. Pau earned her Ph.D. in Geography from UCLA in 2009. Her work emphasizes the use of hyperspectral imaging and thermal sensing to quantify plant traits and stress responses, with recent projects examining tropical forest resilience, California rangeland management, and grassland functional diversity. She leads the Pau Lab, which bridges basic ecological research with societal challenges like biodiversity loss and climate mitigation.

Key research themes include tropical tree phenology, grassland carbon dynamics, and the development of lineage-based functional types for Earth system models. Her lab’s findings contribute to advancing remote sensing methodologies and informing conservation strategies. Stephanie actively collaborates with global institutions and engages in science communication through public talks and workshops.