Jeannine Cavender-Bares is Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard University Herbaria. She is also Adjunct Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior at the University of Minnesota.[1] Her research integrates evolutionary biology, ecology, and physiology by studying the functional traits of plants, with a particular focus on oaks.[2]
She is a leading researcher in the field of 'eco-phylogenetics' or 'community phylogenetics' (her review[9] has been cited over 2000 times), and organized a special issue of the journal Ecology on that topic.[10] Her work has emphasized the role of diversification in community assembly.[11][12] Cavender-Bares' research group uses concepts from the evolutionary history of plant physiology to understand how ecosystems function in the face of global climate change, as well as how changes in plant function and diversity can be remotely sensed. She led the design and establishment of several long-term experiments at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, including the Forest and Biodiversity (FAB) experiments.[13][14]
Cavender-Bares is the Director of the NSF-funded biology integration institute[15]ASCEND[16] on using spectral biology and predictive models for the study of biodiversity and global change. She was lead principal investigator of the NSF/NASA Dimensions of biodiversity project "Linking remotely sensed optical diversity to genetic, phylogenetic and functional diversity to predict ecosystem processes"[17] and lead editor for the open access book Remote Sensing of Plant Biodiversity.[18]
She has contributed to national and international efforts to assess and monitor biodiversity. She was one of the coordinating lead authors of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) report for the Americas.[19] The IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body supported by multiple nations with the mission to "strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development."[20] She served on the NASA Working Group that authored the 2022 NASA Biological Diversity and Ecological Forecasting Report: Current State of Knowledge and Considerations for the Next Decade.[21] In 2016, she helped launch the Oaks of the Americas Conservation Network, which promotes the protection of oak species across North America.[22][23]
She serves on the Governing Board of the Ecological Society of America and the Steering Committee of the World Biodiversity Forum.[24] She was appointed to serve on the public facing Biological Sciences Advisory Committee (BIO AC) to the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 2019-2021.
As of 2023, Cavender-Bares has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, international assessments or book chapters that have been cited over 34,000 times.[25]
As indexed by Google scholar some of her most important papers as first author are:
^Cavender-Bares, J. (2019). Diversification, adaptation, and community assembly of the American oaks (Quercus), a model clade for integrating ecology and evolution. New Phytologist, 221(2), 669-692. [1]
^Cavender-Bares, J., Ackerly, D. D., & Kozak, K. H. (2012). Integrating ecology and phylogenetics: the footprint of history in modern-day communities. Ecology, S1-S3. [4]
^National Science Foundation entry [5]. Accessed: 2019-09-11
^Remote Sensing of Plant Biodiversity. J. Cavender-Bares, J. Gamon, P. Townsend (eds.). Springer. 2020. ISBN978-3-030-33157-3. [6]
^IPBES (2018): The IPBES regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for the Americas. Rice, J., Seixas, C. S., Zaccagnini, M. E., Bedoya-Gaitán, M., and Valderrama N. (eds.). Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Bonn, Germany. 656 pages. [7]
^"About | IPBES". ipbes.net. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
