Robert T. Strahan, PhD

Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Policy & Professor of Biology
PhD, Forest Science, Northern Arizona University, 2013; MS, Range Science, New Mexico State University, 2008; BS, Wildlife Science, New Mexico State University, 2005

I have broad interests in the field of rangeland ecology. My research lies at the interface between application and theory. The main themes of my research center on 1) sustainable management of forest and grasslands, 2) the functional consequences disturbance, 3) plant community dynamics, and 4) the maintenance of ecological diversity.

Professional preparation:
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, Wildlife Science BS, 2005
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, Rangeland Science, MS, 2008
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, Forest Science, PhD, 2013
Northern Arizona University, ERI, Flagstaff, AZ, Restoration Ecology, Postdoc. 14-2015

Professional preparation:
2017 – Present: Adjunct Professor, Biology and Environmental Science and Policy, Southern Oregon University
2015 – 2017: Restoration Program Manager, NM Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute
2014 – 2015: Postdoctoral scholar, Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University
2009 – 2013: Research Assistant (Ph.D.), School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University
2006 – 2008: Teaching Assistant (M.S.), Department of Range Science, New Mexico State University

Selected Publications:

• Strahan, R.T., Laughlin, D.C., and Moore, M.M. 2018. An experimental test of the Community Assembly by Trait Selection (CATS) model. PLoS ONE 13(11): e0206787. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206787
• Laughlin, D.C., Strahan, R.T., Adler, P.B., Moore, M.M. 2018. Survival rates indicate that correlations between community-weighted mean traits and environments can be unreliable estimates of the adaptive value of traits. Ecology Letters
• Laughlin, D.C., Strahan, R.T., Moore, M.M., Fulé, P.Z., Huffman, D.W., and Covington, W.W. 2017. The hierarchy of predictability in ecological restoration : strucutre and functional diversity are more predictable than community composition. Journal of Applied Ecology doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12935
• Strahan R.T., Laughlin, D.C., Huffman, D.W., and Sánchez Meador, A.J. 2016. Shifts in functional identity and diversity reveal functional consequences of fire exclusion in a mixed conifer forest. Journal of Applied Ecology. 53:1755-1765
• Laughlin, D.C., Strahan, R.T. Huffman, D.W., and Sanchez Meador, A.J. 2016. Restoring resilient ecosystems by applying trait-based fitness targets: historical conditions and the future of montane forests in western North America. Restoration Ecology. doi: 10.1111/rec.12342
• Strahan, R.T., Bakker, J.D., Laughlin, D.C., and Moore, M.M. 2015. Long-term protection from heavy livestock grazing affects ponderosa pine understory composition and functional traits. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 68(3):257-265.
• Strahan, R.T., Stoddard, M.T. and Springer, J.D. 2015. Increasing weight of evidence that thinning and burning treatments help restore understory plant communities in ponderosa pine forests. Forest Ecology and Management. 353:208-220.
• Strahan, R.T. and Allred, K.W. 2008. Aristideae Eludendae II: A re-evaluation of the Aristida gibbosa (Nees) Kunth complex (Poaceae: Aristideae), including A. marginalis Ekman, A. orizabensis Fournier, and A. sorzogonensis Presl. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 2(1):309-322.

Office: Science Building 171
Phone: 541.552.6341
E-Mail: strahanr@sou.edu