Justin D. Gay

On the hunt for some fat (for a semi-arid climate) mollisol A horizons. #soilsluething

Soil texturing by feel may be more art than science but it sure is a gratifying skill to master (for those soil inclined 😉). @umontana.bsky.social

Intensifying Fire Season Aridity Portends Ongoing Expansion of Severe Wildfire in Western US Forests Area burned by wildfire has increased in western US forests over recent decades. However, high-severity fire—fire that kills all or most trees—is also an important metric of fire activity given its d...

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Please see our new paper just published in Global Change Biology: “Intensifying fire season aridity portends ongoing expansion of severe wildfire in western US forests”. 🧪🌍🔥

The breakthrough proof bringing mathematics closer to a grand unified theory The Langlands programme has inspired and befuddled mathematicians for more than 50 years. A major advance has now opened up new worlds for them to explore.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I am pleased to share the most significant study that I have so far contributed to. We find overwhelming evidence that mechanical thinning and prescribed fire reduce subsequent wildfire severity across seasonally dry forests in the western USA. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Alright, let’s finally get to the bottom of this question: how do shorter high-severity fire return intervals impact soil carbon fluxes in subalpine conifer forests? Undergraduate research interns are on the case. 🕵️

Let's dive into this a bit. A short and very incomplete thread on US Forest Service research. 1/

Using a technoeconomic approach we found that emissions were cut by 57% vs. direct land 💩 application. From an economic standpoint, increasing P % of recovered CB is critical. Current recovery costs ~$119/kg P - room to improve.

A step toward a more circular and sustainable nutrient economy!

It was a fun experience teaming up with UW engineers to explore the biogeochemistry of phosphorus recovery from dairy waste using cyanobacteria!

Can cow poop and cyanobacteria help close the nutrient loop? 💩🧪♻️

doi.org/10.1016/j.co...

Mondo!

An incredible wildcard gift from a student today—a hand-knit blanket for my newborn son, designed to mimic a soil profile! She hasn’t taken my soils course yet, so horizons were a creative shot in the dark. Thick, dark mollic epipedon up top, or clay- and Fe-rich kandic Bt? Mollisol or Ultisol?

New required reading for our soil lab sections next fall?!

What a resource! The overwhelmingly favorite topic in my physical geography course this year was atmospheric processes & clouds. This looks like a banger.

Soil texture triangle. Sand, silt, clay.

Some of us worship the old gods.

#FireCon2025 CALL FOR PROPORSALS is OPEN 🔥submit your proposal by May 15th to host a workshop, special session, or fire circle discussion with us in NOLA⚜️
Details here: afefirecongress.org/call-for-pro...

How the Loss of Federal Workers Will Have A Massive Impact on Fire Operations This Fire Season, With Riva Duncan Life with Fire · Episode

open.spotify.com/episode/3UvS...

A poster for stand up for science protest in Missoula, Montana on March 7, 2025, at 12 PM at the University of Montana oval

Have you ever had someone you care about the impacted by a tornado, a hurricane, an earthquake, a wildfire?

Evidence based decision-making helps keep us safe and ecosystems healthy.

Science helps protect us. Now it’s our turn to fight to protect the scientific enterprise in the US. #missoula 🧪

As above, so below? It’s quite clear western conifer forests are facing substantial environmental forcing from both climate and associated fire regimes changes. How are below ground support systems for trees - such as beneficial mycorrhizae being impacted? How does this impact regeneration?

In 2022, 68% of US faculty were non-tenure track, up from 47% in 1987, yet the “vanishing tenure-track” trend remains largely absent from graduate student recruitment conversations. An important reality to confront, especially over these next 4 years. www.aaup.org/AAUP/comm/re...

Today I submitted my first research proposal as a PI. Not for a big grant, but a v v small one I helped write with an undergraduate. It may not be the typical career metric in my field, but for me, it feels like success. Especially in this new political climate. Early UG research support is 🔑

Wow! Talk about an A+ conceptual figure 👏🏽

Extinction of experience among ecologists Fieldwork-based research and education in ecology are under multiple threats and are progressively declining. We call for greater attention to this on…

Fighting everyday here @umontana.bsky.social to combat “the extinction of experience” for my students - education doesn’t need to be (and shouldn’t be) a textbook. To quote Leopold “Is education possibly a process of trading awareness for things of lesser worth?”

Congrats Nathan. Great work!

Sparse subalpine forest recovery pathways, plant communities, and carbon stocks 34 years after stand‐replacing fire Changing global climate and wildfire regimes are threatening forest resilience (i.e., the ability to recover from disturbance). Yet distinguishing areas of “no” versus “slow” postfire forest recovery...

New paper in #EcologicalMonographs w/ @monicagturner.bsky.social & E. Mavencamp! Among sparse/non-forested areas 34 years after the severe 1988 Yellowstone Fires:

- ~1/2 appear “locked in”;
- Plant communities shifted to resemble meadows;
- Aboveground C repartitioned w/ 96% stored in dead wood.

Decadal persistence of grassland soil organic matter derived from litter and pyrogenic inputs - Nature Geoscience Plant litter-derived mineral-associated organic matter that formed in the first year and pyrogenic organic inputs both persist on a decadal scale in grassland soil via distinct mechanisms, according t...

Compelling data from Leuthold et al. highlighting the importance of pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) in soil C stabilization in grasslands. Over 60% of labeled PyOM-C and 50% of PyOM-N remained after 10 years. Needless to say, fire is critical for biogeochem function. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reburning Before Recovery: Effects of Short-Interval Fire on Subalpine Forest Nitrogen Stocks and Fluxes - Ecosystems In forests adapted to infrequent (> 100-year) stand-replacing fires, novel short-interval (< 30-year) fires burn young forests before they recover from previous burns. Postfire tree regeneration is re...

Our new paper in #Ecosystems! Short-interval #fires in lodgepole pine change aboveground N stocks (a lot) but not total ecosystem N, tho available NO3- goes up. #GreaterYellowstone #FireEcology #NSFfunded W/ @nathankiel.bsky.social C Cleveland, J Warren, R Heumann
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Unsettling that the location of the lab will change but potentially not the science?

The Association for Fire Ecology is an international organization dedicated to improving the knowledge and use of fire in land management. We are scientists, educators, students, managers, practitioners, policymakers, and interested citizens helping to shape the emerging profession and growing field of fire ecology.

The Association for Fire Ecology is now on Bluesky!🦋 Follow us to stay up-to-date with Fire Ecology Journal articles, fire ecology news and job posts, and Fire Ecology Chats podcast episodes. Learn more about us here: fireecology.org

The W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation is hiring an Assistant Teaching Professor of Geographic Information Systems (NTT). Come be my colleague! I’d be happy to share more insights with those interested.

apply.interfolio.com/160413