Megan Buchanan is a GRA in the Forest Dynamics Lab at UA. Megan’s research interests primarily include forest community dynamics, biogeography, and historical disturbance regimes in eastern forests. Her M.S. thesis, advised by Dr. Justin Hart, examines the canopy disturbance history of eastern North American forests and includes a methodological analysis of the reconstruction process used to determine disturbance history. Megan was co-author on a manuscript in review that synthesized broad- and fine-scale biophysical characteristics of forest fire reconstruction studies in the Central Hardwood Forest Region of the eastern U.S. She is also the principle investigator for a project analyzing the disturbance history and successional dynamics of the mixed-mesophytic forests on the Loess Bluffs in west-central Tennessee. Upon the completion of her M.S. in May, Megan will continue her research and education at a Ph.D. program and with a long-term goal of securing a tenure-track position at a research university.
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