The Northern Plant Ecology Lab is now based in Whitehorse, Yukon
Dr. Johnstone founded the Northern Plant Ecology Lab (NPEL) while a professor at the University of Saskatchewan (2006-2017). Worn down by the pace and demands of full-time academic life, she left her tenured faculty position at the U of S in October 2017 and returned to live in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. She now runs the NPEL as a freelance researcher with connections to Yukon University (research associate), the University of Alaska Fairbanks (research affiliate), and University of Saskatchewan (adjunct professor). The NPEL continues to exist as a virtual group of past students and collaborators.
Dr. Johnstone's main research interests are focused on how disturbance processes may interact with climate change to drive future vegetation dynamics of boreal forest and tundra ecosystems. In particular, how are changes in disturbance regimes, such as altered fire frequency and severity, likely to influence forest responses to directional climate change? Once a disturbance has occurred, what are the effects of climate warming on plant regeneration and colonization processes? After the initial period of community assembly, what types of biotic and abiotic interactions are responsible for shaping subsequent trajectories of succession? Are disturbances likely to create windows of opportunity for southern species to invade northern communities as the climate warms? What do these interactions mean for management of human disturbances or the prediction of future changes in northern ecosystems over coming decades or centuries?
Dr. Johnstone founded the Northern Plant Ecology Lab (NPEL) while a professor at the University of Saskatchewan (2006-2017). Worn down by the pace and demands of full-time academic life, she left her tenured faculty position at the U of S in October 2017 and returned to live in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. She now runs the NPEL as a freelance researcher with connections to Yukon University (research associate), the University of Alaska Fairbanks (research affiliate), and University of Saskatchewan (adjunct professor). The NPEL continues to exist as a virtual group of past students and collaborators.
Dr. Johnstone's main research interests are focused on how disturbance processes may interact with climate change to drive future vegetation dynamics of boreal forest and tundra ecosystems. In particular, how are changes in disturbance regimes, such as altered fire frequency and severity, likely to influence forest responses to directional climate change? Once a disturbance has occurred, what are the effects of climate warming on plant regeneration and colonization processes? After the initial period of community assembly, what types of biotic and abiotic interactions are responsible for shaping subsequent trajectories of succession? Are disturbances likely to create windows of opportunity for southern species to invade northern communities as the climate warms? What do these interactions mean for management of human disturbances or the prediction of future changes in northern ecosystems over coming decades or centuries?
Dr. Jill Johnstone
Jill Johnstone ResearchGate profile
- Affiliate research scientist, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PO Box 757000, Fairbanks, AK 99775 USA
- Adjunct professor, Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, 112 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2 Canada
- Research associate, Yukon University, 500 University Drive, Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 5K4
- email: jfj.npel (at) gmail.com
- phone: (867) 668-7040 (home)
- Background: Jill was born and raised originally in Vermont (USA) and is a citizen of both the United States and Canada. She first developed an interest in northern ecosystems when studying at Middlebury College with Dr. Bill Howland in the early 1990's. After completing a M.Sc. degree in arctic plant ecology at UBC with Dr. Greg Henry, Jill spent 10 years living and working in the Yukon and Alaska. During this time, she completed a Ph.D. on boreal forest ecology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks with Dr. F. Stuart (Terry) Chapin, III. In 2006, Jill started up the Northern Plant Ecology Lab at the University of Saskatchewan, and was promoted to full professor in 2016. She left the U of S in 2017 in order to live a more balanced lifestyle in the North. Jill now remains active in northern research as a freelance researcher based in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Jill Johnstone ResearchGate profile
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''There's something about north,'' he said, ''something that sets it apart from all other directions. A person who is heading north is not making any mistake, in my opinion. That's the way I look at it,'' said Stuart, ''I rather expect that from now on I shall be travelling north until the end of my days.'' |
