My current research efforts are in the arctic tundra of North America and Russia, and the temperate forests of the U.S. Mid-Atlantic.  In the Arctic, we are examining the recent dynamics of arctic tundra vegetation in response to changing climate and disturbances, and the effects that these vegetation changes have on other arctic ecosystem properties.  In the U.S. Mid-Atlantic we are examining carbon cycling along successional gradients from old-field to old-growth, as well as carbon-water interactions in topographically complex watersheds.

Epstein Google Scholar Link

• Spectral variability in fine-scale drone-based imaging spectroscopy does not impede detection of target invasive plant species
  2023; Frontiers in Remote Sensing; Huelsman, K. | Epstein, H. | Yang, X. | Mullori, L. | Červená, L. |  Walker R.
• Eyes of the world on a warmer, less frozen, and greener Arctic
  2023; Global Change Biology; Frost, G.V. | Bhatt, U.S. | Macander, M.J. | Epstein, H.E. | Raynolds, M.K. | Waigl, C.F. | Walker, D.A.
• Disturbances in North American boreal forest and Arctic tundra: impacts, interactions, and responses
  2022; Environmental Research Letters; Foster, A. | Wang, J. | Frost, G. | Davidson, S. | Hoy, E. | Turner, K. | Sonnetag, O. | Epstein, H. | …
• Eyes of the world on a warmer, less frozen, and greener Arctic
  2023; Global Change Biology; Frost, G. | Bhatt, U. | Macander, M. | Epstein, H. | Raynolds, M. | Waigl, C. | Walker, D.
• Rapid transformation of tundra ecosystems from ice-wedge degradation
  2022; Global and Planetary Change; Jorgenson, M. | Kanevskiy, M. | Jorgenson, J. | Liljedehal, A. | Shur, Y. | Epstein, H. | …
• Tundra vegetation change and impacts on permafrost
  2022; Nature Reviews Earth & Environment; Heijmans, M. | Magnússon, R. | Lara, M. | Frost, G. | Myers-Smith, I. | Huissteden, J. | Jorgenson, M. | Federov, A. | Epstein, H. | …
• Climatic Aridity Shapes Post-Fire Interactions between Ceanothus spp. and Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) across the Klamath Mountains
  2021; MDPI Forests; Cinoğlu, D. | Epstein, H. | Teply, A. | Anderosn-Teixeira, K. | Thompson, J. | Perakis, S.
• Artificial Light at Night Impacts the Litter Layer Invertebrate Community With No Cascading Effects on Litter Breakdown
  2021; Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution; Hey, M. | Epstein, H. | Haynes, K.
• Understanding the synergies of deep learning and data fusion of multispectral and panchromatic high resolution commercial satellite imagery for automated ice-wedge polygon detection
  2021; ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing; Witharana, C. | Buiyan, A. | Liljedahl, A. | Kanevskiy, M. | Epstein, H. | Jones, B. | Daanen, R. | Griffin, C. | Kent, K. | Jones, M.
• Spatial patterns of arctic tundra vegetation properties on different soils along the Eurasia Arctic Transect, and insights for a changing Arctic
  2020; Environmental Research Letters; Epstein, H. | Walker, D. | Frost, G. | Raynolds, M. | …

TEACHING

Terrestrial Ecology (EVSC 5220)
Analyzes the patterns and processes in terrestrial ecosystems. Topic include macro- and micro-meteorological factors such as producer, consumer, and decomposer processes; hydrologic and biogeochemical pathways; and changes through space and time.

Fundamentals of Ecology (EVSC 3200)
Studies energy flow, nutrient cycling and allocation in natural ecosystems, organization of species at the population and community levels, and interaction between people and the biosphere.