Joshua J. Lawler

Professor, University of Washington|

Josh Lawler is an ecologist driven by applied conservation questions and their real-world applications, with climate change at the root. In particular, he is interested in how climate change can drive shifts in plant and animal distributions, and the impacts those shifts have at both the species and the ecosystem level. He uses a combination of field experiments and statistical and simulation modeling techniques, and works with collaborators to design tools that conservation planners can use to assess the impacts that climate change will have on protected landscapes. Additionally, he studies how climate change affects not only animals and plants, but also people, in this case through the loss of ecosystem services such as carbon storage, as well as the ways that human health, climate, and environment are connected.