Postdoctoral Associate

Lucas is a biogeographer and forest ecologist interested in forest change and recovery from disturbance at landscape to regional scales. His work typically combines field data, remote sensing, and statistical modeling to gain insight on disturbance extent and severity, tree regeneration, carbon dynamics, and changes in forest structure and composition over time.

Before starting at UVM, Lucas completed his PhD in Geography and then worked as a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Pennsylvania State University. His work at Penn State was largely focused on wildfire severity and vegetation dynamics in forests of California. After eight years of working mostly in the West, he is excited to apply his research skillset to the forests of his native Northeast. At UVM, his research focuses on forest adaptation and restoration across the Northern Forest in the context of disturbance and climate change.

Publications

  • Taylor AH, Harris LB, Drury SA. 2021. Drivers of fire severity shift as landscapes transition to an active fire regime, Klamath Mountains USA. Ecosphere 12(9): e03734. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3734.
  • Zhao A, Taylor AH, Smithwick EAH, Kaye M, Harris LB. 2021. Simulated fire regimes favor oak and pine but affect carbon stocks in mixed oak forests in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Forest Ecology and Management 494, 119332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119332.
  • Harris LB, Drury SA, Farris CA, Taylor AH. 2021. Prescribed fire and fire suppression operations influence wildfire severity under severe weather in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, USA. International Journal of Wildland Fire. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF20163.
  • Harris LB, Drury SA, Taylor AH. 2021. Strong legacy effects of prior burn severity on forest resilience to a high-severity fire. Ecosystems 24, 774–787. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00548-x.
  • Harris LB, Taylor AH. 2021. Spatial patterns of tree cover change at a dry forest margin are driven by initial conditions, water balance and wildfire. Landscape Ecology 36, 353-371. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01178-3.
  • Harris LB, Taylor AH. 2020. Rain-shadow forest margins resilient to low-severity fire and climate change but not high-severity fire. Ecosphere 11(9): e03258. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3258.
  • Taylor AH, Airey-Lauvaux C, Estes B, Harris LB, Skinner CN. 2020. Spatial patterns of 19th century fire severity persist after fire exclusion and a 21st century wildfire in a mixed conifer forest landscape, Southern Cascades, USA. Landscape Ecology 35(12): 2777-2790. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01118-1.
  • Harris LB, Scholl AE, Young AB, Estes B, Taylor AH. 2019. Spatial and temporal dynamics of 20th century carbon storage and emissions after wildfire in an old-growth forest landscape. Forest Ecology and Management 449(117461): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117461.
  • Harris LB, Taylor AH. 2017. Previous burns and topography limit and reinforce fire severity in a large wildfire. Ecosphere 8(11): e02019. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2019.
  • Harris LB, Taylor AH. 2015. Topography, fuels, and fire exclusion drive fire severity of the Rim Fire in an old-growth mixed-conifer forest, Yosemite National Park, USA. Ecosystems 18:1192–208. http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10021-015-9890-9.
Lucas Harris

Education

  • PhD in Geography, The Pennsylvania State University
  • MS in Geography, The Pennsylvania State University
  • BA in Environmental Studies, Hamilton College

Contact

Email:

lucas.harris@uvm.edu

Office Location:

308 Aiken Center, UVM main campus

Website(s):
  1. Google Scholar
  2. Research Gate