Joan Dudney

Joan Dudney is an Assistant Professor at the University of California Santa Barbara's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, where she is establishing the Landscapes of Change Lab (LOC Lab). Previously a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley and Smith Fellow at UC Davis, her research focuses on understanding how global change drivers impact terrestrial ecosystems. She specializes in climate change effects on forest communities, particularly examining infectious diseases, pest outbreaks, invasive species, and drought-disease interactions in the Sierra Nevada.

Dr. Dudney's research interests center on tracing human impacts across landscapes through the lens of climate change-induced shifts in abiotic-biotic interactions. Her work combines field studies, stable isotope analysis, and causal inference methods to disentangle complex ecological dynamics across multiple scales. She has particular expertise in whitebark pine conservation, mountain pine beetle outbreaks, and the cascading effects of drought on forest ecosystems. Her approach integrates long-term observational data with experimental field assessments to identify mechanisms driving ecological change.

Her publication record includes high-impact papers in journals like Nature Communications (2021) on climate change shifting infectious tree disease prevalence, and Trends in Ecology and Evolution (2018) on resilience-based management under climate change. Her research demonstrates consistent themes of complex interactions between climate variables and biological responses, often revealing counterintuitive patterns such as increased tree growth during drought periods.

• Smith Fellow (2019 cohort)
• Best Overall at ESPM Grad Fest (2018)
• Significant media coverage including New York Times interview on Sequoia National Park fires
• Research featured in KCBS radio, TV News Reno, Inside Climate News, Yuba.net, and Daily Mail

Dr. Dudney actively engages in science communication through podcasts (Water Talk, 2021), research briefs for CalFire, and public outreach about ecological changes. Her work bridges fundamental ecological research with practical management applications, particularly regarding forest disturbance and resilience in the face of climate change. She has developed valuable resources for ecological researchers including tutorials on panel models and plot selection methodology.