Solomon Dobrowski, Professor of Landscape Ecology

Solomon received a B.S. in Resource Management from UC Berkeley and an M.S. in Horticulture and a Ph.D. in Ecology from UC Davis. His research involves exploring linkages among climate, topography, fire, and vegetation. 

Email: solomon.dobrowski@umontana.edu 

Svetlana Yegorova, PhD student

Svetlana studies the use of climate analogs for forecasting and adapting to climate change. Svetlana received an M.S from Oregon State University and was a forest ecologist for the state of CA.

Drew Lyons, Research Analyst

Drew Lyons is a research analyst from Olympia, Wash. studying in the Department of Forest Management. His research focuses on plant water content and remote sensing. In his free time you can find him hiking, climbing, writing music and playing guitar.

Caitlin Littlefield, Forest Landscape Ecologist

Caitlin is a forest landscape ecologist interested in how we can adapt forests to climatic changes and shifting disturbance regimes, how to enhance landscape connectivity, and how to grow a more inclusive conservation movement. Originally from New England, Caitlin attended Middlebury College and completed her Masters in Forest Ecology at the University of Vermont before trekking west to pursue a PhD in Conservation and Landscape Ecology at the University of Washington. Caitlin is now a Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center research fellow in Solomon Dobrowski’s lab at the University of Montana. Currently, she’s mapping socio-ecological priorities for climate adaptation on forested PNW public lands as well as using large-scale forest inventory data to explore how forests are responding to warming temperatures. Caitlin is an avid skier and biker, an aspiring bowl-turner, and a mediocre but hopeful gardener.

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Robin Dixon, M.S. student

Robin is originally from Virginia, and received a B.S. in Biology from the College of William and Mary in 2017.  She is currently a Master’s student in the Department of Forest Management.  Her research focuses on understanding forest regeneration potential by modelling the hydrologic, climatic, and physiological dimensions of plant stress on a landscape scale.  Like all true ecologists, she loves being outside.  You can usually find her climbing, trail running, or trying to grow vegetables on her tiny apartment patio.

Tyler Hoecker, Climate Adaptation Postdoctoral Fellow

Tyler Hoecker is a Climate Adaptation Postdoctoral Fellow with the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. Tyler is part of a cohort of fellows leading regionally focused research projects and synthesizing national strategies for adapting human communities and ecosystems to the future of fire. His NW CASC research is focused on predicting where, and understanding why, forests are vulnerable to fire-driven transformations.

Tyler earned his B.A. from Willamette University, M.S. from the University of Montana and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work explores how wildfires act as local catalysts for global environmental change using field experiments, observational studies, data science and process-based simulation modeling. His dissertation investigated interactions between short-interval fires and topographic position on post-fire regeneration, consequences of forest change for wildlife in the Greater Yellowstone, and shifts in forest composition and structure after recent fires in Glacier National Park. Tyler’s interest in science stems from a passion for exploring landscapes and understanding how we ought to steward them. He balances time outside cycling, climbing and skiing with a love of spicy food, fresh coffee and hoppy beer.