Education

Ph.D. in Geography, University of Utah, 2011

M.S. in Geography, University of Utah, 2008

B.A. (magna cum laude) in Geography, University of South Carolina, 2002

 

Research Experience

Post-Doctoral Fellow in Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences, University of Idaho, 2013-2015

Post-Doctoral Researcher in Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Finland, 2011-2012

 

Academic Interests

Dr. Morris’ current research and teaching interests center on the interactions of society with forest ecosystems in western North America and the world at large. He has worked in Europe, Australia, and Russia studying the impacts of wildfire and bark beetles on timber resources.  Dr. Morris has given more than 35 presentations at scientific meetings in 10 countries. He currently serves on the steering committee for two international working groups that focus on ecosystem resilience (http://www.pages-igbp.org/about/pages-logos/166-initiatives/working-group/ecore3/1503-ecore3-resil-resist-recov) and disturbance regime dynamics in forested landscapes (http://www.pages-igbp.org/my-pages/paleo-jobs/164-initiatives/working-group/forest-dynamics/1377-people).

Courses Taught at Weber State University

GEOG 1000 Natural Environments of the Earth

GEOG 1300 People and Places of the World

GEOG 1500 Climate Change

HNRS 2030 Out of the Woods

Courses Taught at Other Institutions

GEOG 1020 Geography of America’s National Parks

GEOG 1400 Human Geography

GEOG 1700 Natural Hazards

GEOG 3280 Weather and Climate

GEOG 3300 Advances in Paleoclimatology

Selected Publications (as lead author only)

Morris JL, Higuera PE, Haberle S, Whitlock C. (in press) Modern pollen from small hollows reflects Athrotaxis cupressoides density across a wildfire gradient in subalpine forests of the Central Plateau, Tasmania, Australia. The Holocene DOI: 10.1177/0959683617702228

Morris JL, Cottrell S, Fettig CJ, Hansen WD, Sherriff R, Carter VA, Clear JL, Clement JM, DeRose RJ, Higuera PE, Hicke JA, Mattor K, Seddon AWR, Seppa H, Stednick J, Seybold SJ. 2016. Bark beetle impacts on social-ecological systems: Priority questions to inspire future research. Journal of Applied Ecology DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12782

Morris JL, McLauchlan KK, Higuera PE. 2015. Sensitivity and complacency of sedimentary biogeochemical records to landscape disturbances. Earth-Science Reviews 148: 121–133.

Morris JL, DeRose RJ, Brunelle AR. 2015. Long-term perspectives on landscape change from a subalpine forest in central Utah, USA. Forest Ecosystems 2: 1–12.

Morris JL, Väliranta M, Sillasoo Ü, ES Tuittila ES, Korhola A. 2015. Re-evaluation of Late Holocene fire histories from three boreal bogs suggest a linkage between bog fires and climate. Boreas 44: 60–67.

Morris JL, Courtney-Mustaphi CJ, Carter VA, Watt J, Derr K, Pisaric MFJ, Anderson RS, Brunelle AR. 2015. Do bark beetle remains in lake sediments correspond to severe outbreaks? A review of published & ongoing work. 2015. Quaternary International 378: 74–86.

Morris JL, Mueller JR, Nurse A, Long CJ, McLauchlan KK. 2014. Holocene fire regimes, vegetation, and biogeochemistry of an ecotone site in the Great Lakes Region of North America. Journal of Vegetation Science 25: 1450–464.

Morris JL. 2014. Using lake sediment records to reconstruct bark beetle disturbances in western North America. Frontiers of Biogeography 5: 219–226.

Morris JL, le Roux PC, Macharia AN, Brunelle AR, Hebertson EG, Lundeen Z. 2013. Organic, elemental, and geochemical contributions to lake sediment deposits during severe spruce beetle disturbances. Forest Ecology and Management 289: 78–89.

Morris JL, Brunelle AR, DeRose RJ, Seppä H, Power MJ, Carter VA, Bares R. 2013. Using quantitative fire regime zones on a high-resolution lake sediment record from western North America. Quaternary Research 79: 24–36.

Morris JL, Brunelle AR, Munson AS, Spencer J, Power MJ. 2013. Holocene vegetation and disturbance reconstructions from the Aquarius Plateau, Utah, USA. Quaternary International 310: 111–123.

Morris JL, Brunelle AR. 2012. Pollen accumulation in lake sediments during historic spruce beetle disturbances in subalpine forests of southern Utah, USA. The Holocene 22: 961–974.

Other Publications

Morris JL. 2016. Managing bark beetle impacts on ecosystems and society. Mountain Research Initiative, http://www.blogs-mri.org/.

Seddon AWR, Cole L, Morris JL, Fletcher MS, Willis K. 2016. Measuring ecosystem resilience in the paleoecological record. Past Global Changes Newsletter 24: 3.

Clear J, Chiverrel R, DeRose RJ, Drobyshev I, Morris JL, Svoboda M. 2016. Introducing a new Forest Dynamics Working Group. Past Global Changes Newsletter 24: 1.

Morris JL, Cottrell S, Mattor K, Hansen W, Seddon AWR, Seppa H, Clear JL. 2015. Social-ecological dimensions of forest insect disturbances: Past, present, and future. Past Global Changes Newsletter 23: 4.

Research in the News

Interviewed for Yale Environment 360: Small Pests, Big Problems: The Global Spread of Bark Beetles, by Cheryl Katz. 2017. http://e360.yale.edu/features/small-pests-big-problems-the-global-spread-of-bark-beetles

Interviewed for National Public Radio’s Marketplace: Obama visits a state that lives climate change: Alaska, by Andy Uhler. 2015. http://www.marketplace.org/2015/08/31/sustainability/obama-visits-state-lives-climate-change-alaska.

Interviewed for Utah Adventure Journal: Bark Beetles in Utah, by Luis Arevalo. 2013.