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 physiological processes governing the fluxes of carbon, water, and nutrients in forest ecosystems.
Latest news:
August 2019:
Had a wonderful week talking science during the ESA's annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. Thanks to all of those who attended my talk, "Contrasting trends in growth and intrinsic water use efficiency of four eastern U.S. tree species". I am thrilled and honored to say my talk was awarded the W.D. and S.M. Billings Award from the Physiological Ecology Section. Dwight Billings was a pioneer in physiological ecology and was also my academic great grandfather. Many thanks to my friend and mentor, Richard Thomas, for the unwavering support.

April 2019:
Excited to have had the opportunity to talk about some of our most recent work documenting the drivers of tree growth in the eastern U.S. using a multi-proxy approach at the EGU's annual meeting in Vienna! Check out a brief overview of our soon to be submitted work here.

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 Today 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."

WVU Today | WVU biology student links Clean Air Act to red spruce recovery in Appalachia

A dramatic recovery of red spruce trees in the central Appalachian Mountains led West Virginia University researchers to pursue the driving factors behind improved forest health. After a 50-year period of declining growth of the tree species prior to the Clean Air Act, a new study by Justin Mathias, a biology Ph.D.

EMISSIONS: Red spruce sprout atop coal mines that helped kill them

CHEAT MOUNTAIN, W.Va. - When it comes to ripping up a landscape, there's no machine like the Caterpillar D9. With 900 horsepower, a front bulldozing blade and a sharp rear hook, it can tear through 3 or 4 feet of hard soil in the blink of an eye.

WVU researchers studying forests' past and future

Graduate students at West Virginia University are spending time in the woods examining the state's ecological past and conducting experiments on what we might expect in the future. Their work, both interesting and important, holds worldwide implications.

Increase in red spruce growth tied to the Clean Air Act | PLOS Ecology Community

Research news from ESA 100 by Jeff Atkins Originally posted on PLOS Ecology Field Reports on August 11, 2015 The Clean Air Act, implemented in 1990, has been heralded as aneconomic and environmental success story that has led to cuts in ground-level ozone by more than 25% since 1980, a reduction in mercury emissions by 45%, and a decrease in the main drivers of acid rain - sulfur dioxide by 71% and nitrogen dioxide by 46%.

WVU Today | WVU biology students investigate the impact of climate change on Appalachian forests

Biology students at West Virginia University are studying the impact of climate change on the forests of the Appalachian Mountains. Justin Mathias and Nanette Raczka, Ph.D. students in the Department of Biology, have received Smithsonian Center for Tropical Forest Science-ForestGEO grants to support their research.

WVU biology students teach area elementary students the importance of forest ecosystems
"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