I’m a postdoctoral researcher in the Center for Biodiversity and Community Science at the California Academy of Sciences, where I leverage vast amounts of community science data to model ecological patterns across myriad landscapes. My research is most broadly motivated by the need to understand the biological and ethical drivers of Anthropocene biogeography.
Experience
PostDoctoral Researcher
California Academy of Sciences
Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution
Stanford University
B.S. in Biology
Cornell University
Projects
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Identifying Vegetation-Climate Mismatch in Sierra Nevada conifer forests and its impact on vegetation transitions and fire regime.
The nativeness of a species is often an important consideration in conservation decisions, but becomes increasingly abstruse as environments change and species migrate.
Project evaluating the contribution of urban lands to SF Bay Area conservation goals with iNaturalist.
I am serving as a co-author on the “Nature and Climate Change” chapter of the upcoming inaugural U.S. National Nature Assessment.
A short student-made documentary about the meaning of stewardship in the SF Bay Area.
Select Publications
(2024).
Nativeness as Gradient: Towards a More Complete Value Assessment of Species in a Rapidly Changing World.
Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics.
(2023).
Low-Elevation Conifers in California's Sierra Nevada Are out of Equilibrium with Climate.
PNAS Nexus.
(2021).
Forest Fires and Climate-Induced Tree Range Shifts in the Western US.
Nature Communications.
Select Media
Contact
apaytonhill [at] gmail [dot] com