Naomi Schwartz

Dr. Naomi Schwartz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Arts. She leads the Schwartz Geospatial Ecology Lab, which investigates the impacts of climate and land-use change on tropical forest landscapes. Her research focuses on disturbance and extreme events, combining remote sensing, GIS, and field studies to understand forest vulnerability and recovery. Key areas include reforestation permanence, drought effects on tree species, and microclimate interactions in burned forests.

Her lab has advised MSc students Elise Pletcher, Adrian Dwiputra, and Sarah Smith-Tripp. Notable contributions include a 2020 paper in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change highlighting reforestation reversals in Latin America and a 2020 study in Global Change Biology linking hydraulic traits to drought mortality in tropical species. She holds an NSF Postdoc Fellowship (2017) for research on rainfall seasonality and tropical forest composition.

• Research Themes: Tropical Forest Dynamics, Remote Sensing, Climate Change Impacts
• Key Tools: GIS, LiDAR, Vegetation Mapping
• Lab Location: UBC Department of Geography (2212 Main Mall, Vancouver)