Clarke Knight

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I am broadly interested in forest response to climate change, past and present. I work in California’s mixed conifer forests where disturbance regimes, especially wildfire, drive community composition and ecosystem function. Currently, I am focused on leveraging reconstruction techniques from paleo-ecology to compare modern forests to those from the late-Holocene and early California settlement. My field sites are located in the Six Rivers National Forest, CA.
 
I am also convinced that scientific research should not remain abstract and unsullied by real-world problems, which has led to my interest in the application of science to recalcitrant environmental challenges. I am currently part of a team of scientists working on California’s 4th Climate Assessment Report to be published in summer 2018.
 
Before starting a PhD at UC Berkeley in 2016, I received two masters degrees — an MSc in Water Policy and an MSc in Biodiversity Conservation — from the University of Oxford where I studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and a BA in Chemistry from Smith College.
 
Abbreviated CV, full CV on request