In today’s episode, we sit down with Lucy Penn Kerhoulas, an Associate Professor in the Department of Forestry, Fire, and Rangeland Management at Cal Poly Humboldt. As a tree physiologist, Lucy is interested in many aspects of forests – and she uses diverse methods to ​​improve her understanding of these inspiring and vital ecosystems.

Focusing on the coniferous forests of the western U.S., Lucy gathers information with tree climbing, gas exchange measurements, water potential measurements, stable isotopes of water and wood, dendrochronology, and plot-level descriptive data. With this research, she is on a mission to discover how water use and carbon storage impact forest systems, and much more…

Click play to learn about:

• The types of human activities that impact forest ecosystems. 
• How restoration treatments influence water availability to the trees left behind from thinning efforts. 
• How water is shared across species in a forest. 
• The ways that trees respond to drought. 

To follow along with Lucy on her academic journey, click here now!

Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/38oMlMr