Dr. Jesse Miller

Ecologist; Instructor, Center for Wildlife Studies

Ph.D. Plant Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

B.S. Botany and Sustainable Agriculture, The Evergreen State College

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Dr. Jesse Miller has worked as a botanist, ecologist, and educator for nearly two decades, including jobs at government agencies, private consulting companies, and universities. He previously taught ecology and statistics at Stanford, and he now teaches in the Master’s in Environmental Studies program at The Evergreen State College.

Jesse completed his PhD in plant ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2016, and he subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher studying fire ecology at UC Davis. Jesse has extensive experience with both botanical field data collection in ecosystems ranging from rainforests to deserts, as well as expertise in ecological data analysis.

His research interests include the effects of global change pressures, and especially altered wildfire regimes, on plant and lichen diversity. He has also worked extensively on the conservation ecology of rare and endangered plants. Jesse's passion for the natural world inspires him to help students in his classes and workshops.

Teaching

  • Peer-reviewed papers

    37. Miller, J. E. D., J. Villella, J. Clark, and D. Kofranek. 2025. Recreational trails reduce lichen and bryophyte diversity and the occurrence of rare species. Journal of Applied Ecology, in press.

    36. Copeland, S., L. Condon, R. Rosentreter, J. E. D. Miller, M. Kahn-Abrams. 2024. Biocrusts indicators of livestock grazing effects on soil stability in sagebrush steppe: a case study from a long-term experiment in the northern Great Basin. Range Ecology and Management 91 (82-86).

    35. Steel, Z., J. E. D. Miller, L. Ponisio, M. Tingley, K. Wilkin, R. Blakey, K. Hoffman and G. Jones. 2024. A roadmap for pyrodiversity science. Journal of Biogeography 51 (2).

    34. Brodie, E., J. Stewart, S. Winsemius, J. E. D. Miller, A. Latimer and H. Safford. 2023. Wildfire facilitates upslope advance in a shade‐intolerant but not a shade‐tolerant conifer. Ecological Applications, 33(5): e28888.

    33. Weeks, J., H. Safford, Z. Steel, J. E. D. Miller, E. Batzer. 2023. High-severity fire drives floristic homogenization in human-altered forests. Ecosphere 14(2): e4409.

    32. Villella, J., L. M. Calabria, B. McCune, J. E. D. Miller, S. Sharrett. 2023. An annotated list of lichens and allied fungi in Oregon’s Opal Creek Wilderness and adjacent areas: Pre-fire baseline. Evansia 40(1): 15-36.

    31. Miller, J. E. D., S. Copeland, K. Davies, B. Anacker, H. Safford and S. Harrison. 2022. Plant community data from a statewide survey of paired serpentine and non-serpentine soils in California, USA. Ecology 103(6): e3644.

    30. Brodie, E., J. E. D. Miller, and H. Safford. 2021. Productivity modifies the effects of fire severity on understory diversity. Ecology 102(11): e03514.

    29. Miller, J. E. D*., A. Weill*, and J. Villella. 2021. Increasing fire frequency reduces lichen diversity in a high-severity fire-adapted ecosystem. Diversity and Distributions 28: 454– 462. (*Equal contributions)

    28. Armstrong, C., J. E. D. Miller, A. McAlvey, D. Lepofsky, N. Turner, and M. Ritchie. 2021. Plant diversity and functional traits reflect ancient forest garden history. Ecology and Society 26(2): 6.

    27. Miller, J. E. D. and H. Safford. 2020. Are plant community responses to wildfire contingent upon historical disturbance regimes? Global Ecology and Biogeography 29(10): 1621-1633.

    26. Miller, J. E. D., J. Villella, D. Stone, A. Hardman. 2020. Using lichens as indicators of forest age and conservation value. Forest Ecology and Management 475: 118436.

    25. Safford, H. & J. E. D. Miller. 2020. An updated database of serpentine endemism in the California flora. Madroño 67(2): 85-104.

    24. Kattke, G., G. Bönisch, S. Díaz, S. Lavorel, I. C. Prentice, P. Leadley, S. Tautenhahn, G. D. A. 

    Werner…J. E. D. Miller…et al. (729 authors). 2020. TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access. Global Change Biology 26(1): 119-188.

    24. Villella, J., J. E. D. Miller, A. Young, G. Carrey, A. Emanuels, and W. Miller. 2020. Tardigrades in the canopy:  Associations with tree vole nests in southwest Oregon. Northwest Science 94(1): 24-30.

    23. Li, D., J. E. D. Miller, and S. Harrison. 2019. Climate drives loss of phylogenetic diversity in a grassland community. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116(40): 19989-19994.

    22. Root, H., J. E. D. Miller, and R. Rosentreter. 2020. Grazing disturbance promotes exotic annual grasses by degrading biotic soil crust communities. Ecological Applications 30(1): e02016.

    21. Miller, J. E. D., D. Li, M. Laforgia, and S. Harrison. 2019. Functional diversity is a passenger but not driver of drought-related plant diversity loss. Journal of Ecology 107(5): 2033-2039.

    20. Miller, J. E. D., A. Ives, and E. Damschen. 2019. Functional traits and community composition: a comparison among community-weighted means, weighted correlations, and multilevel models. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 10(3): 415-425.

    19. Stevens, J., P. Fornwalt, and J. E. D. Miller. 2019. Fire severity and changing composition of understory plants. Journal of Vegetation Science 30(6): 1099-1109. 

    18. Richter, C., M. Rejmánek, J.E.D. Miller, J. Weeks, K. Welch, H. Wiggins, and H. Safford. 2019. The local species diversity x fire severity relationship is hump-shaped in semiarid yellow pine and mixed conifer forests. Ecosphere 10(10): e02882.

    17. Miller, J. E. D., H. Root, and H. Safford. 2018. Altered fire regimes cause long-term lichen diversity losses. Global Change Biology 24(10): 4909-4918. 

    16. Miller, J. E. D., A. Ives, S. Harrison, and E. Damschen. 2018. Early- and late-flowering guilds respond differently to landscape spatial structure. Journal of Ecology 106(3): 1033-1045.

    15. Young, A., J. E. D. Miller, J. Villella, G. Carey, and W. Miller. 2018. Epiphyte type and sampling height impact mesofauna communities in Douglas-fir trees. PeerJ 6:e5699.

    14. Adlam, C.* and J. E. D. Miller. 2018. Macrolichens of the Quail Ridge Reserve, Napa County, California. Bulletin of the California Lichen Society 25(1): 10-15. (*Mentored graduate student)

    13. Villella, J., T. Carlberg, D. Stone, J. E. D. Miller, N. Nelson, and L. Calabria. 2018. Diversity and floristic patterns of epiphytic macrolichens on white oak in the Cascade-Siskiyou region of Oregon. Opuscula Philolichenum, 17: 299-318.

    12. Miller, J. E. D. and E. Damschen. 2017. Holding the line: Three decades of prescribed fires halt but do not reverse woody encroachment in naturally fragmented grasslands. Landscape Ecology 32(12): 2297-2310.

    11. Miller, J. E. D.*, P. Hahn*, E. Damschen and J. Brennan**. 2017. Functional dependence underlies a positive plant-consumer richness relationship. Basic and Applied Ecology 21: 94-100. (*First two authors contributed equally; **Mentored undergraduate)

    10. Miller, J. E. D., J. Villella, G. Carey, T. Carlberg and H. Root. 2017. Canopy distribution and survey detectability of a rare old-growth forest lichen. Forest Ecology and Management 392: 195–201.

    9. Miller, J. E. D. and E. Damschen. 2017. Biological soil crust cover is negatively related to vascular plant richness in Ozark sandstone glades. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 144(2): 170-178

    8. Grover, Shannon**, J. E. D. Miller, and E. Damschen. 2017. Indirect effects of landscape spatial structure and plant species richness on pollinator diversity in Ozark glades. Castanea 82(1): 24-31. (**Mentored undergraduate) Winner of the Windler prize for best 2017 ecology paper in Castanea

    7. Petersen, K., John Villella, J. E. D. Miller, L. M. Calabria, J. Brown-Clay, L. Hynson, T. Steen, K. Johnston, A. Ulbrich and M. Miller. 2017. Substrate age influences species richness and succession patterns of calicioid lichens and fungi. The Bryologist 120(1):19-24.

    6. Miller, J. E. D., E. Damschen, S. Harrison, and J. B. Grace. 2015. Landscape spatial structure affects specialist but not generalist plant species in naturally fragmented grasslands. Ecology 96:3323–3331.

    5. Root, H.T., J. E. D. Miller, and B. McCune. 2011. Rarity and habitat associations of soil crust lichens. The Bryologist 114(4).

    4. Miller, J. E. D., B. McCune, D. Kofranek, J. Villella, R. Demmer, and K. Mergenthaler. 2011. Lichens from the South Slough and Horsfall Dunes on the Southern Oregon coast. Evansia 28(4).

    3. Miller, J. E. D., A. Rossman, R. Rosentreter, and J. Ponzetti.  2011.  Lichen ecology and diversity of an Oregon sagebrush steppe: 1977 to the present. North American Fungi 6(2): 1-15. 

    2. Miller, J. E. D. 2011. The Usnea rigida group in California and the Pacific Northwest. Bulletin of the California Lichen Society 18(1&2):3-5. 

    1. Villella, J., S. Benson, T. Carlberg, J. Miller, R. Patton, and E. Peterson.  2010. The Lichens of the Horseshoe Ranch Wildlife Area.  Bulletin of the California Lichen Society 17 (1&2): 9-12.