Willamette University

Environmental and Earth Sciences

Karen Arabas

Karen Arabas

Education

  • Ph.D. in Geography from the Pennsylvania State University
  • M.A. in Environmental and Resources Policy from George Washington University
  • B.A. in Environmental Science from Wesleyan

Courses

biogeography, water resources, forest ecology and policy, sustainability, and introductory environmental science, restoration ecology, senior seminar, world geography

Professional Interests

My research interests center on questions about natural and human disturbances to forests. I use tree rings to help interpret past disturbances and their impacts on forests, such as fire, climate and competition. I am currently looking for students to work on the Zena Forest Project during the summer of 2008.

Publications

Arabas, K.B., K.S. Hadley, and E.R. Larson. 2006. Fire history of a naturally fragmented landscape in central Oregon. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 36(5): 1108-1120.

Pohl, K., K.S. Hadley, and K.B. Arabas. 2006. Decoupling tree-ring signatures of climate variation, fire, and insect outbreaks in central Oregon. Tree Ring Research 62(2): 37-50

Pohl, K.A., K.S. Hadley, and K.B. Arabas. 2002. A 545-year drought reconstruction from central Oregon, Physical Geography . 21(4): 302-320