Jennifer J. Swenson
Associate Professor of the Practice of Geospatial Analysis
Swenson's research tracks changes in terrestrial Earth's living surface at the landscape to region scale with remote sensing and geospatial analysis. Her interest include: how patterns and canopy structure are effected by drought, afforestation, and deforestation, patterns and climate shifts of ecosystem biodiversity, and providing access to practitioners to remotely sensed data and analysis. Prior to her 13 years in Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, she held positions in NGOs (NatureServe, EcoCiencia), as well as in the US Federal Government (US Forest Service, National Park Service). Her research has been supported by NASA, NSF, USDA and other institutions.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
- Associate Professor of the Practice of Geospatial Analysis, Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment 2014
Contact Information
- A319 LSRC, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
- Box 90328, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0328
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jswenson@duke.edu
(919) 668-0606
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Google Scholar profile
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Swenson Lab
- Background
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Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Oregon State University 2003
- M.A., San Diego State University 1995
- B.A., University of California - Santa Barbara 1990
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Duke Appointment History
- Director of Professional Programs, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University 2012 - 2016
- Assistant Professor of the Practice of Geospatial Analysis, Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment 2006 - 2014
- Director of Professional Studies in the Nicholas School of the Environment, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University 2011 - 2014
- Recognition
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In the News
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JUL 10, 2020 Nicholas School of the Environment -
NOV 9, 2017 Nicholas School of the Environment -
JAN 4, 2016 Duke Research Blog -
AUG 5, 2014
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- Expertise
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Subject Headings
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Global Scholarship
- Research
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Selected Grants
- Collaborative Research: Combining NEON and remotely sensed habitats to determine climate impacts on community dynamics awarded by National Science Foundation 2018 - 2022
- The bridge from canopy condition to continental scale biodiversity forecasts, including the rare species of greatest conservation concern awarded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2020 - 2022
- Generative models to forecast community reorganization with climate change awarded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2017 - 2019
- Spatiotemporal Variability of Inland Waterbodies Along the Pacific Flyway Using 40+ Years of Landsat awarded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2013 - 2017
- Doctoral dissertation Research: Migratory shorebird response to habitat availability dynamics over 20+ years at an internationally important inland Pacific Flyway stopover awarded by National Science Foundation 2015 - 2017
- Drought-induced mortality of trees: ecosystem changes under climate change awarded by Department of Agriculture 2012 - 2016
- Spatial Analysis on the Effectiveness of FSC Certification in Cameroon and Peru awarded by World Wildlife Fund 2014 - 2015
- How will the Interaction Between Roots and Canopy Physiological Functioning at Night Influence Water and Carbon Fluxes Under Changing Environmental Conditions? awarded by North Carolina State University 2011 - 2015
- "Doctoral Dissertation Research:" Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Woody Plant Encroachment in Semiarid Rangelands of Argentina: Changes in C Stocks, Albedo and Radiative Forcing awarded by National Science Foundation 2011 - 2014
- Spatio-temporal dynamics of woody plant encroachment in semiarid rangelands of Argentina: changes in C stocks and climate change implications awarded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2010 - 2013
- Recent Trends in large-parcel forest ownership in the southern US awarded by Department of Agriculture 2007 - 2009
- Publications & Artistic Works
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Selected Publications
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Academic Articles
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Al-Yaari, A., Wigneron, J.-P., Ciais, P., Reichstein, M., Ballantyne, A., Ogée, J., … Knapp, A. K. (2020). Asymmetric responses of ecosystem productivity to rainfall anomalies vary inversely with mean annual rainfall over the conterminous United States. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15345Full Text
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Walker, N. J., Schaffer-Smith, D., Swenson, J. J., & Urban, D. L. (2019). Improved connectivity analysis using multiple low-cost paths to evaluate habitat for the endangered San Martin titi monkey (Plecturocebus oenanthe) in north-central Peru. Landscape Ecology, 34(8), 1859–1875. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-019-00837-4Full Text
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Fan, L., Al-Yaari, A., Frappart, F., Swenson, J. J., Xiao, Q., Wen, J., … Wigneron, J. P. (2019). Mapping soil moisture at a high resolution over mountainous regions by integrating in situ measurements, topography data, and MODIS land surface temperatures. Remote Sensing, 11(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11060656Full Text
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Panlasigui, S., Jimena Rico-Straffon, ., Alexander Pfaff, ., Jennifer Swenson, ., & Colby Loucks, . (2018). Impacts of certification, uncertified concessions, and protected areas on forest loss in Cameroon, 2000 to 2013. Biological Conservation, 227, 160–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.09.013Full Text
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Schwantes, A. M., Parolari, A. J., Swenson, J. J., Johnson, D. M., Domec, J.-C., Jackson, R. B., … Porporato, A. (2018). Accounting for landscape heterogeneity improves spatial predictions of tree vulnerability to drought. The New Phytologist, 220(1), 132–146. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15274Full Text
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Schaffer-Smith, D., Swenson, J. J., Reiter, M. E., & Isola, J. E. (2018). Quantifying shorebird habitat in managed wetlands by modeling shallow water depth dynamics. Ecological Applications : A Publication of the Ecological Society of America, 28(6), 1534–1545. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1732Full Text
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Gray, P. C., Ridge, J. T., Poulin, S. K., Seymour, A. C., Schwantes, A. M., Swenson, J. J., & Johnston, D. W. (2018). Integrating drone imagery into high resolution satellite remote sensing assessments of estuarine environments. Remote Sensing, 10(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10081257Full Text
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Seyednasrollah, B., Jennifer J. Swenson, ., Jean-Christophe Domec, ., & James S. Clark, . (2018). Leaf phenology paradox: Why warming matters most where it is already warm. Remote Sensing of Environment, 209, 446–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.02.059Full Text Open Access Copy
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Johnson, D. M., Domec, J.-C., Carter Berry, Z., Schwantes, A. M., McCulloh, K. A., Woodruff, D. R., … Jackson, R. B. (2018). Co-occurring woody species have diverse hydraulic strategies and mortality rates during an extreme drought. Plant, Cell & Environment, 41(3), 576–588. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13121Full Text Open Access Copy
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Terborgh, J. W., Davenport, L. C., Belcon, A. U., Katul, G., Swenson, J. J., Fritz, S. C., & Baker, P. A. (2018). Twenty-three-year timeline of ecological stable states and regime shifts in upper Amazon oxbow lakes. Hydrobiologia, 807(1), 99–111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3384-zFull Text
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Schwantes, A. M., Swenson, J. J., González-Roglich, M., Johnson, D. M., Domec, J.-C., & Jackson, R. B. (2017). Measuring canopy loss and climatic thresholds from an extreme drought along a fivefold precipitation gradient across Texas. Global Change Biology, 23(12), 5120–5135. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13775Full Text
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Austin, K. G., González-Roglich, M., Schaffer-Smith, D., Schwantes, A. M., & Swenson, J. J. (2017). Erratum: Trends in size of tropical deforestation events signal increasing dominance of industrial-scale drivers (2017 Environ. Res. Lett. 5 054009). Environmental Research Letters, 12(7), 079601–079601. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7760Full Text
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Pettorelli, N., Nagendra, H., Rocchini, D., Rowcliffe, M., Williams, R., Ahumada, J., … Wegmann, M. (2017). Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation: three years on. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, 3(2), 53–56. https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.53Full Text
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Austin, K. G., González-Roglich, M., Schaffer-Smith, D., Schwantes, A. M., & Swenson, J. J. (2017). Trends in size of tropical deforestation events signal increasing dominance of industrial-scale drivers. Environmental Research Letters, 12(5). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6a88Full Text
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Schaffer-Smith, D., Swenson, J. J., Barbaree, B., & Reiter, M. E. (2017). Three decades of Landsat-derived spring surface water dynamics in an agricultural wetland mosaic; Implications for migratory shorebirds. Remote Sensing of Environment, 193, 180–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2017.02.016Full Text Open Access Copy
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González-Roglich, M., & Jennifer J. Swenson, . (2016). Tree cover and carbon mapping of Argentine savannas: Scaling from field to region. Remote Sensing of Environment, 172, 139–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2015.11.021Full Text
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SCHAFFER-SMITH, D. A. N. I. C. A., SWENSON, J. E. N. N. I. F. E. R. J., & BÓVEDA-PENALBA, A. N. T. O. N. I. O. J. (2016). Rapid conservation assessment for endangered species using habitat connectivity models. Environmental Conservation, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892915000405Full Text
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Schwantes, A. M., Swenson, J. J., & Jackson, R. B. (2016). Quantifying drought-induced tree mortality in the open canopy woodlands of central Texas. Remote Sensing of Environment, 181, 54–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.03.027Full Text
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González-Roglich, M., Swenson, J. J., Villarreal, D., Jobbágy, E. G., & Jackson, R. B. (2015). Woody Plant-Cover Dynamics in Argentine Savannas from the 1880s to 2000s: The Interplay of Encroachment and Agriculture Conversion at Varying Scales. Ecosystems., 18(3), 481–492. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-015-9841-5Full Text
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González-Roglich, M., Esteban G. Jobbágy, ., Jennifer J. Swenson, ., & Robert B. Jackson, . (2014). Shifting carbon pools along a plant cover gradient in woody encroached savannas of central Argentina. Forest Ecology and Management, 331, 71–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.07.035Full Text
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Riegel, J. B., Bernhardt, E., & Swenson, J. (2013). Estimating above-ground carbon biomass in a newly restored coastal plain wetland using remote sensing. Plos One, 8(6), e68251. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0068251Full Text
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Domec, J.-C., Sun, G., Noormets, A., Gavazzi, M. J., Treasure, E. A., Cohen, E., … King, J. S. (2012). A Comparison of Three Methods to Estimate Evapotranspiration in Two Contrasting Loblolly Pine Plantations: Age-Related Changes in Water Use and Drought Sensitivity of Evapotranspiration Components. Forest Science., 58(5), 497–512. https://doi.org/10.5849/forsci.11-051Full Text Open Access Copy
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Smart, L. S., Swenson, J. J., Christensen, N. L., & Sexton, J. O. (2012). Three-dimensional characterization of pine forest type and red-cockaded woodpecker habitat by small-footprint, discrete-return lidar. Forest Ecology and Management, 281, 100–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2012.06.020Full Text
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Swenson, J. J., Young, B. E., Beck, S., Comer, P., Córdova, J. H., Dyson, J., … Zambrana-Torrelio, C. M. (2012). Plant and animal endemism in the eastern Andean slope: challenges to conservation. Bmc Ecology, 12, 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6785-12-1Full Text
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Swenson, J. J., Carter, C. E., Domec, J.-C., & Delgado, C. I. (2011). Gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon: global prices, deforestation, and mercury imports. Plos One, 6(4), e18875. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0018875Full Text Open Access Copy
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Sexton, J. O. S. E. P. H. O., Bax, T. Y. L. E. R., Siqueira, P. A. U. L., Swenson, J. E. N. N. I. F. E. R. J., & Hensley, S. C. O. T. T. (2009). A comparison of lidar, radar, and field measurements of canopy height in pine and hardwood forests of southeastern North America. Forest Ecology and Management, 257(3), 1136–1147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2008.11.022Full Text
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Hernandez, P. A., Franke, I., Herzog, S. K., Pacheco, V., Paniagua, L., Quintana, H. L., … Young, B. E. (2008). Predicting species distributions in poorly-studied landscapes. Biodiversity and Conservation, 17(6), 1353–1366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-007-9314-zFull Text
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Olander, L. P., Gibbs, H. K., Steininger, M., Swenson, J. J., & Murray, B. C. (2008). Reference scenarios for deforestation and forest degradation in support of REDD: A review of data and methods. Environmental Research Letters, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/3/2/025011Full Text
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Swenson, J. J., & Waring, R. H. (2006). Modelled photosynthesis predicts woody plant richness at three geographic scales across the north-western United States. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 15(5), 470–485. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-822X.2006.00242.xFull Text
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Alig, R. J., Lewis, D. J., & Swenson, J. J. (2005). Is forest fragmentation driven by the spatial configuration of land quality? The case of western Oregon. Forest Ecology and Management, 217(2–3), 266–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2005.06.007Full Text
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Hansen, A., Waring, R., Phillips, L., Swenson, J., & Loehle, C. (2005). Using biophysical factors to predict regional biodiversity potential in the pacific and inland northwest. Ncasi Technical Bulletin, (907).
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Swenson, J. J., Waring, R. H., Fan, W., & Coops, N. (2005). Predicting site index with a physiologically based growth model across Oregon, USA. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 35(7), 1697–1707. https://doi.org/10.1139/x05-089Full Text
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Swenson, J. J., Waring, R. H., Coops, N., & Fan, W. (2005). Estimation of forest productivity across the Pacific and Inland Northwest with a physiologically based process model, 3-PG. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, (35), 1697–1707.
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Butler, B. J., Swenson, J. J., & Alig, R. J. (2004). Forest fragmentation in the Pacific Northwest: quantification and correlations. Forest Ecology and Management, 189(1–3), 363–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2003.09.013Full Text
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Swenson, J. J., & Franklin, J. (2000). The effects of future urban development on habitat fragmentation in the Santa Monica Mountains. Landscape Ecology, 15(8), 713–730. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008153522122Full Text
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Smart, L. S., Taillie, P. J., Poulter, B., Vukomanovic, J., Singh, K. K., Swenson, J. J., … Meentemeyer, R. K. (n.d.). Aboveground carbon loss associated with the spread of ghost forests as sea levels rise. Environmental Research Letters, 15(10), 104028–104028. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aba136Full Text
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- Teaching & Mentoring
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Recent Courses
- ENVIRON 558L: Remote Sensing for Environmental Analysis 2020
- ENVIRON 720S: Land Conservation in Practice 2020
- ENVIRON 761: Geospatial Analysis for Conservation Management 2020
- ENVIRON 857L: Remote Sensing for Environmental Analysis 2019
- ENVIRON 720S: Land Conservation in Practice 2018
- ENVIRON 761: Geospatial Analysis for Conservation Management 2018
- Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
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Outreach & Engaged Scholarship
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