Ashley M. Matheny - Research Dossier

Overview

Ashley M. Matheny is an Assistant Professor of Ecohydrology at the University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences. Her research focuses on understanding how vegetation influences the movement of water between soil and atmosphere, with implications for climate modeling, drought prediction, and forest management.

Early Life and Education

• Birthplace: Small town along the Ohio River in West Virginia
• Early influences: Water skiing, canoeing, camping fostered passion for nature
• BS: Civil Engineering, The Ohio State University
• PhD: Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering, The Ohio State University (2013-2016)
  • Advisor: Gil Bohrer
  • Dissertation: “Development of a Novel Plant-Hydrodynamic Approach for Modeling of Forest Transpiration During Drought and Disturbance”
• Postdoc: Ohio State University (2016-2017)

Career Timeline

• 2010: Worked for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers studying water interactions with dams
• 2010: Witnessed hydraulic jump on Ohio River - pivotal moment redirecting career toward hydrology
• 2013-2016: PhD research on tree water use and hydraulic strategies
• 2016-2017: Postdoctoral researcher at Ohio State
• 2017-present: Assistant Professor at UT Austin Jackson School of Geosciences

Research Focus

Core Areas

1. Ecohydrology: How vegetation influences water cycling
2. Plant Hydraulics: Water storage and transport in trees
3. Land-Atmosphere Interactions: Vegetation’s role in climate feedbacks
4. Drought Response: How trees manage water stress

Key Innovations

• Developed novel capacitance sensors to measure tree water content
• Created plant hydrodynamic models to improve land-surface model predictions
• Pioneered methods to distinguish hydraulic strategies across tree species
• Extended plant hydraulics models to include halophytes (salt-tolerant plants)

Major Awards and Recognition

• 2022: American Meteorological Society Outstanding Early Career Award in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• 2021: NSF CAREER Award (~$500K over 5 years)
• 2020: G. Moses and Carolyn G. Knebel Distinguished Teaching Award (Jackson School)
• 2017: UT Rising STARs Faculty Award
• 2015-2016: Presidential Fellowship, Ohio State University
• 2014: Outstanding Student Paper Award, American Geophysical Union

Research Sites

Active Field Locations

1. Michigan: University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS)
   • Temperate deciduous forest
   • Red oak, white pine, red maple
   • Long-term sap flux and water content monitoring
2. Central Texas: Hill Country
   • Semi-arid forest
   • Ashe juniper and live oak
   • Water-limited ecosystem studies
3. New Mexico: Valles Caldera
   • Montane watershed
   • Groundwater-surface water interactions
   • High-elevation hydrology
4. Texas Gulf Coast: Port Aransas area
   • Mangrove ecosystems
   • Salinity stress responses
   • Coastal ecosystem dynamics
5. International: Australia, Panama, Abu Dhabi, Jamaica
   • Mangrove research collaborations
   • Climate change impacts on coastal ecosystems

Key Publications (Selected)

• Matheny et al. (2016): “Contrasting strategies of water acquisition and use in two co-dominant temperate tree species” - Ecohydrology
• Matheny et al. (2015): “Observations of stem water storage in trees of opposing hydraulic strategies” - Ecosphere
• Matheny et al. (2014): “Species-specific transpiration responses to intermediate disturbance in a northern hardwood forest” - JGR Biogeosciences
• Li, Yang, Matheny et al. (2021): “Development of plant hydraulics in the Noah-MP Land Surface Model” - JAMES

Current Research Projects

1. NSF CAREER: Understanding biomass hydraulic capacitance for transpiration
   • Novel sensor development with Pete Marchetto (Conservify)
   • Integration with NASA satellite products
   • Educational component with immersive field videos
2. DOE Mangrove Project: Halophyte hydrodynamics
   • Collaborators: Chonggang Xu (LANL), Matteo Detto (Princeton), Annalisa Molini (Khalifa U), Timothy Shanahan (UT)
   • Sites in Texas, Australia, Panama, Abu Dhabi
3. Texas Global Grant: Jamaica mangrove-coral reef interactions
   • With Dr. Rowan Martindale
   • Water quality impacts on coastal ecosystems

Teaching

• GEO 370E/390E: Ecohydrology/Biometeorology
• GEO 376S/382S: Physical Hydrology
• GEO 346C: Introduction to Physical/Chemical Hydrogeology
• Field Methods: Groundwater Hydrology (New Mexico)

Research Group

Current Graduate Students

• Caleb E Adams (PhD)
• Talita Gomes Daniel (PhD)
• Bella F Gray (PhD, committee member)

Alumni

• Ana Maria Restrepo Acevedo (PhD, 2023)
• Lillian Beaman (MS, 2022)
• Lingcheng Li (PhD, 2020, co-supervisor)

Impact and Significance

Matheny’s work bridges fundamental plant physiology with large-scale climate modeling. Her research has:

• Improved representation of vegetation in Earth system models
• Provided tools for predicting drought impacts on forests
• Advanced understanding of tree mortality mechanisms
• Contributed to forest management strategies under climate change

Professional Service

• Member: AGU, American Meteorological Society
• Reviewer for major journals in hydrology and ecology
• Mentor to undergraduate and graduate researchers

Future Directions

• Expanding sensor network for real-time forest monitoring
• Integrating plant hydraulics into operational drought prediction systems
• Understanding mangrove resilience to sea level rise and salinity changes
• Developing educational resources for underrepresented students in geosciences