Graduate student Doug Fischer is the 2005/2006 recipient of the Geography Department’s Excellence in Research Award. The award is made annually to a graduate student whose national conference presentations, publications, research, and lab or field experiments are deemed exceptional. Doug’s dissertation research is in phytogeography (distributions of plant species), and the role that micro-climate and other site factors play in influencing range limits: “My primary study site is on Santa Cruz Island where I am looking at the role that fog plays in the water and energy budgets of Bishop Pines growing on the western part of the island. Intensive weather monitoring, stable isotope analyses, and modeling approaches suggest a high dependence of these trees on fog and overcast to make it through the long, dry summer. Another research interest is in decision support for biodiversity reserve site selection.” Congratulations to Doug!
