Charlotte Grossiord

Charlotte Grossiord serves as a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) within the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC). She leads research at the Plant Ecology Research Laboratory (PERL) and holds additional appointments in the School of Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (SSIE) and the Doctoral Program in Environmental Sciences and Engineering (EDCE). Her office is located at GR B2 407 in Lausanne.

Her research focuses on forest ecology under climate change, specifically examining drought physiology, urban forestry, and plant hydraulics. Grossiord investigates critical questions regarding tree responses to vapor pressure deficit, soil moisture limitations, and compound climate stressors. Her work integrates field measurements with experimental approaches to understand carbon-water relations across multiple scales.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals dominant themes in drought-induced mortality mechanisms (28% of articles), urban tree thermoregulation (15%), and methodological innovations in plant physiology (12%). Key recurring subfields include stomatal conductance regulation, hydraulic safety margins, and vapor pressure deficit interactions with soil drought.

As an educator, she teaches core courses including Sustainability, Fundamentals in Ecology, and Applied Ecology, emphasizing systems thinking and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental challenges. Her doctoral program leadership supports PhD candidates in environmental sciences.

Her research team includes seven doctoral students working on forest climate resilience. Current projects examine urban heat mitigation, drought mortality thresholds, and species interactions in mixed forests. She maintains active collaborations through the FunDivEUROPE network and contributes to institutional committees including the Scientific Committee of the Habitat Research Center.