Dr. David Cairns

Biography

David Cairns' research focuses on the impacts of climate change on vegetation across short and long time scales in a variety of environments. He has worked extensively on ecotones and transition zones between different vegetation types. His work includes studying treelines in the western United States, Alaska, and northern Sweden. Cairns has conducted projects in sensitive environments such as saltmarshes along the coasts of Denmark and Texas, as well as tundra environments on the North Slope of Alaska. He utilizes a variety of methods, including population genetics, dendroecological methods, and simulation modeling, to answer questions pertinent to how environments respond to climate change.

Research Interests

Awards