Emily J. Francis

I am an Assistant Professor at Colorado State University in the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship.  My research is focused on understanding how forest disturbances are changing with climate change and past management, and on developing new measurement tools to support forest management and to study dynamics of forest composition and structure. I finished my PhD in Environmental Earth System Science from Stanford University in 2019. When I'm not doing science, I enjoy rock climbing.
​
CV
Google Scholar
ResearchGate
​

Postdoctoral Researchers

Lilian Vallet
​Lilian Vallet is a Postdoc working on fire risk and on the response of forest and rangeland ecosystems to fire disturbance. On one hand, he develops fine-resolution methods to describe ecosystem structure before the fire. On the other hand, he models the direct response (resistance, loss, and emissions) and the post-fire dynamic  (response time, recovery, and resilience). For this purpose, Lilian leverages Machine Learning methods and state-of-the art data : spaceborne and airborne LiDAR, multispectral satellites images, SAR. During his PhD in Montpellier (France), he assessed and mapped the forest exposure, resistance, and vulnerability to fire throughout France. He extracted over 1700 fire polygons since 1984, constructed a 10m- resolution biomass map and built a biogeochemical model describing biomass loss, carbon emission and post-fire carbon dynamics. His research relies both on top-down approaches (remote-sensing) and bottom-up modelling (ecophysiological functional traits).

Lilian is part of a Joint Fire Science Program, in which he will develop a machine learning model to assess forest structure in the Rio Grande watershed (South Colorado and North New-Mexico region). More precisely, he will gather field, LiDAR and satellites data and train a model to estimate forest and fuel characteristics. The goal of this project if to provide a usable tool and ready-to-use maps to inform forest and fire management strategies.
Subham Banerjee
I am currently leading a project at the Francis Lab at Colorado State University titled "Detecting Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) Forests Throughout Their Natural Range to Support Conservation Planning." This project uses advanced satellite imagery and detailed field observations to create accurate maps of coast redwood distributions, aiming to provide clear insights into their locations and extents.
​
My broader research interests focus on using satellite and sonic data from remote sensors to support biodiversity conservation and ecosystem monitoring. Through my work, I strive to apply these technologies to better understand and manage natural environments, providing valuable information for effective conservation efforts. With a strong foundation in remote sensing and data analysis, I am dedicated to using scientific innovations to solve pressing environmental challenges.

PhD Students

Colin Mast
​I am a PhD student in Colorado State University’s Forest Science program. I received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Geography and Environmental Studies with a minor in Mathematics. While at UW-Madison, I worked on several research projects include mapping the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), assessing wildfire risk in the Sierra Nevada, and creating regional maps to promote sustainable forestry in Argentina.

I received my M.S. in Geography from the University of Oregon, where my research focused on using the forest landscape model LANDIS-II to predict future changes in forest systems. My thesis assessed how an experimental management plan may impact timber production, wildlife habitat, vegetative diversity, and carbon storage under climate change and interacting disturbances. Additionally, I collaborated with three groups of forest modelers to compare the behavior and utility of three models (FVS BioSum, ED2, and LANDIS-II) for projecting the effects of climate change, management, and disturbance on West Coast forests.

My doctoral research focuses on disturbance interactions and forest management in Northern New Mexico, utilizing a Sentinel-2 model trained with ground measurements and airborne LiDAR to predict forest structure and composition. I am also leveraging satellite-derived products (e.g., LANDFIRE) to quantify how the drivers of high-severity burn areas vary across climatic and topographic gradients in the Western United States.

During my free time, I enjoy hiking, snowshoeing, playing tennis, and whittling.
Undergraduate Students
Ashley Zwick
​I am an undergraduate student majoring in Natural Resources Management with minors in Forestry and Ecological Restoration in the FRS Department. I transferred to CSU in 2023 from Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio, where I originally majored in Visual Communication Design.
My undergraduate research focuses on coastal fog impacts on wildfires in fog-influenced regions along the West Coast of the United States. Through a systematic literature review of the available science on fog-wildfire interactions and influences, we are developing a conceptual paper accompanied by visual figures with the goals of bridging research gaps, framing future research, and advancing management strategies in these unique microclimates that have historically experienced wildfire, and experience coastal fog. Drawing on my background in visual communications, I am creating visual figures to support effective science communication throughout the project. This work is being done in collaboration with other scientists: Dr. Danielle Touma, Dr. Brian Woodward, Dr. Tony Vorster, and Dr. Emily Francis, who is serving as our PI.
Outside the lab, I’m a student leader in CSU’s Alpha Chapter of the Society of American Foresters and work as a student office assistant in the FRS Department. I enjoy road trips, live music, beach combing, painting, and climbing.