Nathan Gill, Ph.D.

Research Interests

I study the relationships between fire and plants. My research interests are primarily centered around three broad themes: (1) What a future with more wildfire means for ecosystem functioning and land management (2) The effects of invasive plant species on fire, and the effects of fire on invasive plants (3) The interactions between fire and other ecological disturbances, such as grazing, wind blowdown, and insect outbreak. I am currently studying these themes in forests of Colorado, New Mexico, and Hawaii, as well as rangelands in Texas and New Mexico.

Service

I advise the TTU chapter of the Student Association for Fire Ecology (SAFE) and serve on the Texas Department of Agriculture Prescribed Burning Board. I am also the Treasurer of the American Association of Geographers Biogeography Specialty Group.

Courses Taught

• NRM 4304/5304  Fire Behavior and Ecology
• NRM 3323  Prescribed Burning 
• NRM 1300  Environmental Science as a Social Pursuit
• NRM 3405  Drone Piloting

Recent Publications

Lechnar, Gyan, Puckett, Cox, Grisham, and Gill. 2024. Postfire herbicide application reduces Macartney rose in Attwater's prairie-chicken habitat. Rangeland Ecology & Management (In press). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2024.06.017.

Davis, K.T., et al. (including N.S. Gill; 63 authors). 2023. Reduced fire severity offers near-term buffer to climate-driven declines in conifer resilience across the western United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 120:e2208120120 DOI:10.1073/pnas.2208120120

Gill, N.S., J. Stallman, L. Pratt, J. Lewicki, T. Elias, P.A. Nadeau, and S. Yelenik. 2023. Out of the frying pan and into the fire: effects of volcanic heat and other stressors on the conservation of a critically endangered plant in Hawaiʻi. Environmental Conservation, DOI 10.1017/S0376892922000480

Durboraw, T.D., C.W. Boal, M.S. Fleck, and N.S. Gill. 2022. Long-term recovery of Mexican spotted owl nesting habitat after fire in the Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico. Fire Ecology, 18:31.

Rodman, Kyle C., Robert A. Andrus, Amanda R. Carlson, Trevor A. Carter, Teresa B. Chapman, Jonathan D. Coop, Paula J. Fornwalt, Nathan S. Gill, Brian J. Harvey, Ashley E. Hoffman, Katharine C. Kelsey, Dominik Kulakowski, Daniel C. Laughlin, Jenna E. Morris, José F. Negrón, Katherine M. Nigro, Gregory S. Pappas, Miranda D. Redmond, Charles C. Rhoades, Monique E. Rocca, Zoe H. Schapira, Jason S. Sibold, Camille S. Stevens-Rumann, Thomas T. Veblen, Jianmin Wang, Xiaoyang Zhang, Sarah J. Hart. 2022. Rocky Mountain forests are poised to recover following bark beetle outbreaks but with altered composition. Journal of Ecology, 00, 1– 21.

​Gill, N.S., M.G. Turner, C.D. Brown, S.I. Glassman, S.L. Haire, W.D. Hansen, E. Pansing, S.B. St Clair, and D.F. Tomback. 2022. Limitations to propagule dispersal will constrain post-fire recovery of plants and fungi in western coniferous forests. BioScience, 72:347-364.

​Nagy, R.C., J.K. Balch, E.K. Bissell, M.E. Cattau, N.F. Glenn, B.S. Halpern, N. Ilangakoon, B. Johnson, M.B. Joseph, S. Marconi, C. O’Riordan, J. Sanovia, T.L. Swetnam, W.R. Travis, L.A. Wasse, P.L. Zarnetske and 2019 NEON Science Summit Participants (including N.S. Gill; 118 authors). 2021. Harnessing the NEON data revolution to advance open environmental science with a diverse and data-capable community. Ecosphere 12( 12):e03833.

​Guz, J., N.S. Gill, and D. Kulakowski. 2021. Long-term empirical evidence of post-disturbance climate controlling forest regeneration. Journal of Ecology, 109:4007-4024.

Hamilton, N.P., S.G. Yelenik, T.D. Durboraw, R.D. Cox, and N.S. Gill. 2021. Understanding grass invasion, fire severity, and Acacia koa regeneration for forest restoration in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Land, 10:962.

Gill, N.S., A. Mahood, C. Meier, R. Muthukrishnan, R.C. Nagy, E. Stricker, K. Duffy, L. Petri, and J. Morisette. 2021. Six central questions about biological invasions to which NEON data science is poised to contribute. Ecosphere 12:e03728.

​Rodman, K., R. Andrus, C. Butkiewicz, T. Chapman, N.S. Gill, B. Harvey, D. Kulakowski, N. Tutland, T. Veblen, and S. Hart. 2021. Effects of Bark Beetle Outbreaks on Forest Landscape Pattern in the Southern Rocky Mountains, U.S.A. Remote Sensing, 13:1089

Gill, N.S., T.J. Hoecker and M.G. Turner. 2021. The propagule doesn't fall far from the tree, especially after short-interval fire. Ecology 102(1): e03194.

Gill, N.S., D. Jarvis, J. Rogan, and D. Kulakowski. 2020. Disturbance interactions modulate how litter and herbaceous cover influence conifer regeneration after fire. International Journal of Wildland Fire 29(6): 519-529.