Lucy Rea

I am a scientist with an interest in climate adaptation and resilience in Midwest ecosystems. I did my undergraduate work in Plant Biology at Michigan State and minored in Science Environmental and Technology Public Policy and Environmental Sustainability Studies. After undergrad, I interned as a seed collector for the Bureau of Land Management in Carlsbad, NM. I worked with Dr. Jeannine Cavender-Bares at the University of Minnesota for a Ph.D. in Plant and Microbial Biology, which I defended in May 2024. My dissertation focused on how populations of bur oak responded to different climates, with the goal of informing land managers on potential seed sources for adapting northern forests to climate change. My Ph.D. provided me experience in plant ecophysiology, plant community ecology, plant quantitative genetics, and spectral biology. I am continuing my work with the Cavender-Bares lab as a Post Doc working with the National Parks Service to write protocols for oak wilt detection in parks using methodology developed by members of the lab.

Website: www.lucyreaphd.com