Mary L. Cadenasso

Education: 

• Ph.D., Rutgers University; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 1998
• B.S., Santa Clara University; Biology, 1987

Research interests and expertise: 

I am a landscape and urban ecologist and my research focuses on understanding how spatial heterogeneity of an area or system controls system function and change. My research spans scales and I employ GIS, field experiments and observations, and analytical chemistry of plants, soil, and water to investigate the relationship between landscape patterns and ecosystem processes. I work in many types of systems including the savannas of California and South Africa, Sierra alpine, and the metropolitan regions of Sacramento and Baltimore.

Current projects: 

• HERCULES: patch-based model to link urban structure to ecological processes. Funded by the National Science Foundation through a CAREER Grant and the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program.
• Ecological function of nitrate-rich waterways and riparian zones of an irrigated agricultural setting. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Plant Sciences, Henry A. Jastro Research Fellowship, and Annieís Sustainable Agriculture Scholarship
• Riparian canopy change along headwater Streams near Sacramento, California. Funded by Department of Plant Sciences, Graduate Group in Geography, Henry A. Jastro Research Fellowship, and the Garden Club of America Fellowship in Urban Forestry. 
• Urbanization in a Mediterranean climate: Effects of altered hydrology and stream channel form on riparian vegetation and soils. Department of Plant Sciences, Graduate Group in Ecology, Henry A. Jastro Research Fellowship, and the Garden Club of America Fellowship in Urban Forestry.

Current teaching: 

• Urban Forestry; ENH 100 (fall quarter)
• Urban Ecology; PLS 162 (winter quarter)
• Ecosystem and Landscape Ecology; PLS 163 (winter quarter)

External activities that contribute to scholarship:

• Subject Matter Editor, Ecosphere (Ecological Society of America, open access journal)
• Editorial Board, Journal of Urban Ecology
• UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, Executive Council
• Center for Regional Change, Executive Committee
• Graduate Group in Ecology ñ Ecosystems and Landscapes AOE Chair and Advisor
• Reviewer on NSF panels and numerous journals

Prizes, Awards, Honors:

• Chancellor's Fellow, UC Davis, 2012-2017
• National Science Foundation, Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER), 2009-2014

Google Scholar

ORCID

Keywords:

• Ecology
• Urban ecology
• Social-ecological systems
• Riparian ecology
• Savanna ecology
• Spatial heterogeneity
• Vegetation ecology
• Landscape ecology
• Ecosystem ecology
• Geographic Information Systems
• Environmental justice