Ph.D. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY
M.S. Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
B.S. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY
I am a forest ecologist who uses an interdisciplinary framework to study large landscapes. My research is innovative (e.g. using virtual reality to envision how forests will look under climate change), translational (often stakeholder-driven by federal agencies) and involves working with indigenous communities (Menominee in WI). My current research focuses on wildfires and climate change in the boreal forests of Alaska; wildfire, insects and management in the boreal forests and tundra of Siberia; hurricanes and forest management in the longleaf pine ecosystem in the southeastern U.S.; and forest sustainability in the upper Midwest.
Recent Publications (in the last five years)
Schrum, P, RM Scheller, MJ Duveneck, and MS Lucash. 2020. Base-Hurricane: A new extension for the Landis-II forest landscape model. Environmental Modelling & Software, 104833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2020.104833.
Buma B, SA Weiss, K Hayes and MS Lucash. 2020. Wildland fire reburning trends across the US West suggest only short-term negative feedback and differing climatic effects. Accepted to Environmental Research Letters doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab6c70
Cassell B, RM Scheller MS Lucash, M Hurteau and EL Loudermilk. 2019, Widespread severe wildfires under climate change lead to increased forest homogeneity in dry mixed conifer forests. Ecosphere 10(11): e02934. doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2934
Lucash MS, RM Scheller, K Ruckert, R Nicholas and E Smithwick. 2019. Complex interactions among successional trajectories and climate govern spatial resilience after severe windstorms in central Wisconsin, U.S.A Landscape Ecology 34 (12): 2897–2915. doi: 10.1007/s10980-019-00929-1
Lopez Ortiz MJ, T Marcey, MS Lucash, D Hibbs, J PA Shatford and JR Thompson. 2019. Post-fire management affects species composition but not Douglas-fir regeneration in the Klamath Mountains. 432: 1030-1040. doi: S0378112718309095
Lucash MS, RM Scheller, BR Sturtevant, E J Gustafson, AM Kretchun and JR Foster. 2018. More than the sum of its parts: how disturbance interactions shape forest dynamics under climate change. Ecosphere. 9 (6), e02293. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-24642-2
Serra-Diaz JM, C Maxwell, MS Lucash, RM Scheller, DM Laflower, AD Miller, AJ Tepley, HE Epstein, KJ Anderson-Teixeira and JR Thompson. 2018. Disequilibrium of fire-prone forests sets the stage for a rapid decline in conifer dominance during the 21st century. Scientific Reports 8:6749. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-24642-2
Cantarello E, AC Newton, PA Martin, PM Evans, A Gosal and MS Lucash. 2017. Quantifying resilience of multiple ecosystem services and biodiversity in a temperate forest landscape. Ecology and Evolution. 2017; 7: 9661– 9675. doi: 10.1002/ece3.3491/abstract
Lucash MS, RM Scheller, EJ Gustafson and BS Sturtevant. 2017. Spatial resilience of forested landscapes under climate change and management. Landscape Ecol.5: 953–969. doi: 10.1007/s10980-017-0501-3
Creutzburg MK, RM Scheller, MS Lucash, S.D. LeDuc and M.G. Johnson. 2017. Forest management scenarios in a changing climate: tradeoffs between carbon, timber, and old forest. Ecological Applications 27: 503-518. doi: 10.1002/eap.1460
Creutzburg MK, RM Scheller, MS Lucash, LB Evers, SD LeDuc and MG Johnson. 2015. Bioenergy harvest, climate change, and forest carbon in the Oregon Coast Range. GCB- Bioenergy. doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12255.
Smithwick E, MS Lucash, ML McCormack and G Sivandran. 2014. Improving the representation of roots in climate change models. Eco. Model. 291: 193-204. doi: S0304380014003603