Research Description

I am Justin Mathias, a doctoral student in ​Dr. Richard Thomas' lab at West Virginia University. My research focuses on understanding the effects of environmental change on the function of terrestrial forest ecosystems. In particular, I am interested in examining how a changing world will affect the intricate coupling between the carbon and nitrogen cycles in order to inform future management, conservation, and policy.
Latest News:
January 2019:
With the help of the Roland  Schlich Early Career Scientist's Travel support and a travel award from the journal Plants, I will be traveling to the European Geosciences Union's annual meeting in Vienna, Austria to present research on the effects of environmental change on the growth and physiology of two broadleaf deciduous tree species in the eastern United States!

August 2018:
ESA Biogeosciences section awarded my paper, Disentangling the effects of acidic air pollution, atmospheric CO2, and climate change on recent growth of red spruce trees in the Central Appalachian Mountains, the Elizabeth Sulzman award for best graduate student publication of the year at ESA 2018 in New Orleans, LA!

May 2018:
Recent press for our new paper in Global Change Biology documenting red spruce forest recovery!
WVU News Release
NSF News from the Field
NSF Tumblr Blog
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New publication!
Justin M. Mathias and Richard B. Thomas. 2018. Disentangling the effects of acidic air pollution, atmospheric CO2, and climate change on recent growth of red spruce trees in the Central Appalachian Mountains. Global Change Biology. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14273.
February 2018:
Many thanks to Drs. Howie Epstein and Todd Scanlon for the invitation to the University of Virginia's Dynamics of Forest Growth and Resource Use Symposium where I presented my research related to forest recovery from acid pollution!

September 2017:
A great write up regarding my Forest-GEO grant! 

July 2017:
New funding!
My grant proposal, "Using dendroisotopes to disentangle processes of forest recovery from decades of acid deposition" has been selected to receive funding from the Smithsonian Center for Tropical Forest Science - Forest Global Earth Observatory Research Grants Program. I am excited to begin work on this! 

​December 2016:
Kenny Smith begins his postdoctoral position in Bonnie Waring's lab at Utah State. Congratulations and good luck!

May 2016:
Congrats to Kenny Smith for his new article in Plant and Soil! Check it out here.

October 2015:
Dr. Richard Thomas and I will be traveling to Rochester, NY for the 9th International Acid Rain conference to present our research!

August 2015:
A great write up for PLOS by Jeff Atkins on my talk at the 100th Ecological Society of America meeting in Baltimore, MD!

June 2015:
Many thanks to the Chinese Academy of Forestry for hosting the Thomas Lab in Beijing, China!

March 2015:
Congratulations to our undergraduate student Benjamin Russell for being selected to participate in University of Alaska Anchorage's REU!

May 2014:
The Thomas Lab receives funding from NSF Ecosystem Studies!
"Using dendroisotopes in North America and Asia to examine how temperate forests respond to changes in acid deposition."
"We want to make good time with the emphasis on 'good' rather than 'time' and when you make that shift in emphasis the whole approach changes." - Robert M. Pirsig