Today we talk about many fascinating strands of forest science from lightning and disturbance ecology to chasing down and studying the world's largest tropical trees with Evan Gora, a forest ecologist and Staff Scientist with the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.
Evan grew up on a small farm in central Pennsylvania where he became interested in ecology and started exploring forests. His research investigates how disturbance, particularly lightning strikes, and decomposition influence community assembly and forest carbon cycling. Evan received a B.S in Honors Biology from the University of Pittsburgh, with a second major in Economics and a minor in Chemistry, and a Ph.D. from the University of Louisville in 2018. He did much of his training at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, where he still holds an affiliation.
