Kara Dobson

Kara Dobson is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Global Change Biology at the University of Michigan, working under the co-advisorship of Drs. Kai Zhu and Peter Reich. Her research focuses on ecological acclimation to climate change stressors, utilizing data from climate experiments and FIA to study plant traits, community composition, and species distribution shifts.

• PhD in Integrative Biology and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from Michigan State University
• B.S. in Biology (Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior) from Penn State Behrend

Kara's research spans plant responses to warming and drought, including trait plasticity, chemical emissions, and community-climate disequilibrium. Her recent publications address climate change experiments, machine learning applications in plant biology, and systemic issues in scientific peer review. She has contributed to studies on Lake Erie's microclimate effects and potato fungal suppression techniques during her academic training.