Global change ecosystem ecology

Jackson W. DrewPh.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow · Department of Biology
West Virginia University

I study how air pollution, fire, and plant interactions shape ecosystem responses to environmental change. My work connects tropospheric ozone and wildfire smoke with growing-season timing and carbon uptake across the continental United States. I combine flux measurements, satellite observations, tree rings, and process-based models with causal inference and machine learning in R. My research also examines Arctic and boreal shrubs, including how alder influences the growth of neighboring plants.

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01 / Research

From shrub rings
to ecosystems.

Air pollution, disturbance, and plant interactions across scales.

Air pollution & ecosystem carbon cycling

I investigate how tropospheric ozone and wildfire smoke affect growing-season length and ecosystem productivity across the continental United States. I integrate AmeriFlux observations, remote sensing, and the DO3SE stomatal ozone-flux model to examine pollution effects alongside climate, using causal inference and machine learning in R.

AmeriFlux · Remote sensing · DO3SE · Causal inference

Fire–vegetation interactions & thresholds

I test whether fire intensity and smoke exposure trigger nonlinear vegetation transitions, including shifts from shrublands and savannas to grassland. This work combines NOAA fire and smoke observations with MODIS land-cover records to investigate threshold responses to disturbance.

Fire & smoke · Land-cover change · Threshold responses

Arctic & boreal shrub ecology

I use tree rings and wood anatomy to study shrub growth, climate sensitivity, and plant–plant interactions. My doctoral research examined how Alnus viridis ssp. fruticosa alters local conditions and influences its own growth and that of neighboring birch and willow in Arctic Alaska.

Dendroecology · Plant interactions · Arctic Alaska

02 / Publications

Publications
& data.

Journal articles, manuscripts, and archived research data.

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Peer-reviewed

Drew, J.W., Bret-Harte, M.S., Buchwal, A., & Ruess, R.W. (2026). Facilitative effects of Alnus viridis ssp. fruticosa on Betula nana ssp. exilis growth in Arctic Alaska. Ecology and Evolution, 16(6), e73535. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73535
Drew, J.W., Bret-Harte, M.S., Buchwal, A., & Heslop, C. (2023). Age matters: Older Alnus viridis ssp. fruticosa are more sensitive to summer temperatures in the Alaskan Arctic. Functional Ecology, 37(5), 1463–1475. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14307

In review

Drew, J.W., Kannenberg, S.A., Restrepo-Acevedo, A.M., & Mathias, J.M. (In review). Wildfire smoke ameliorates ozone-induced losses in continental vegetation productivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Revised manuscript and response to reviewers submitted September 2026.

In preparation

Drew, J.W., Bret-Harte, M.S., Buchwal, A., & Ruess, R.W. (In Prep). Secondary growth of Salix pulchra reduced by competition with Alnus viridis ssp. fruticosa in Arctic Alaska

Data Publications

Drew, J.W., Bret-Harte, M.S., Ruess, R.W., & Buchwal, A. (2026). Tree ring measures (1947–2016) and other measurements of Betula nana ssp. exilis “Near” and “Away” from Alnus viridis ssp. fruticosa to assess plant–plant interactions (Sagwon Bluffs, Alaska). Arctic Data Center. https://doi.org/10.18739/A27P8TG2F
Drew, J.W., Bret-Harte, M.S., Buchwal, A., & Heslop, C. (2023). A nearly century long (1920–2017) Siberian alder (Alnus viridis ssp. fruticosa) secondary growth record near Sagwon bluffs Alaska, USA. Arctic Data Center. https://doi.org/10.18739/A27M0421K

03 / Teaching

Teaching
& mentoring.

University teaching in global change, genetics, and evolution.

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
May 2021

Spring 2026 · West Virginia University

Research mentoring

I mentored undergraduate student Ash Bagchandani on understanding the temporal stability of nitrogen isotopes in tree rings.

Fall 2025 & 2026 · West Virginia University

Microbes and Global Change

I served as a guest lecturer for AEM 470, taught by Dr. Edward Brzostek, contributing three lectures.

Spring 2022 & 2023 · University of Alaska Fairbanks

Principles of Genetics

I served as a teaching assistant for F260 for two semesters with Dr. Diana Wolf.

2018–2022 · University of Alaska Fairbanks

Principles of Evolution

I served as a teaching assistant for F481 for six semesters: three with Dr. Pat Doak (Fall 2020–2022), two with Dr. Devin M. Drown (Spring 2018 and 2020), and one with Dr. Kristen Gorman (Spring 2019).

04 / Service

Education
& community.

November 2020 – December 2023

Learning Inside Out Network (LION)

As a member of LION, I supported educational opportunities for incarcerated people and wrote grants advocating for their rights. I helped secure a GVEA Good¢ents Grant that provided newspapers to people incarcerated at the Fairbanks Correctional Center and supported distance writing workshops.

I organized a 2022 meeting with Alaska State Senator Scott Kawasaki, Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkin’s team, and Ameelio on prison education access and technology, and contributed input to the Tanana Chiefs Conference’s re-entry planning. In 2023, I represented LION on a working group promoting digital equity in Alaska’s carceral systems and contributed comments to Alaska’s Digital Equity Plan.

Peer review

I served as a peer reviewer for Dendrochronologia in 2026.

05 / Curriculum vitae

The full record.

Education, research, publications, teaching, and service.
Academic CV · November 4, 2026

Download academic CV PDF

06 / Contact

Get in touch.

Jackson W. Drew, Ph.D.

Department of Biology
West Virginia University
Morgantown, West Virginia