Debra A Willard, Ph.D.
I am a palynologist (pollen and spores) with expertise in paleoecology and biostratigraphy. My biostratigraphic expertise extends from the Carboniferous to the Holocene, with an emphasis on Euramerica (Paleozoic) and the Northern Hemisphere. My paleoecological expertise includes the late Paleozoic and the Paleogene to Holocene intervals.
Editorial Boards
- Global and Planetary Change
- Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution – Paleoecology section Review Editor
- Quaternary
- Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
Professional Experience
2021-Present Research Geologist, US Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia
2011-2021 Coordinator, USGS Land Change Science Program
1991-2011 Research Geologist, US Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia
1990-1991 Postdoctoral Researcher, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Education and Certifications
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Ph.D., Botany 1990
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - M.S., Botany 1985
The Pennsylvania State University - B.S., Botany 1982
Stephens College - A.A., Geology 1980
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Geophysical Union
Geological Society of America
The Palynological Society
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 109
Regional variability in peatland burning at mid-to high-latitudes during the Holocene Regional variability in peatland burning at mid-to high-latitudes during the Holocene
Northern peatlands store globally-important amounts of carbon in the form of partly decomposed plant detritus. Drying associated with climate and land-use change may lead to increased fire frequency and severity in peatlands and the rapid loss of carbon to the atmosphere. However, our understanding of the patterns and drivers of peatland burning on an appropriate decadal to millennial...
Authors
Thomas G. Sim, Graeme T. Swindles, Paul J. Morris, Andy J. Baird, Angela V. Gallego-Sala, Yuwan Wang, Maarten Blaauw, Philip Camill, Michelle Garneau, Mark Hardiman, Julie Loisel, Minna Valiranta, Lysanna Anderson, Karina Apolinarska, Femke Augustijns, Liene Aunina, Joannie Beaulne, Premysl Bobek, Werner Borken, Nils Broothaerts, Qiao-Yu Cui, Marissa A. Davies, Ana Ejarque, Michelle Farrell, Ingo Feeser, Angelica Feurdean, Richard Fewster, Sarah A. Finkelstein, Marie-Jose Gaillard, Mariusz Gałka, Annica Greisman, Liam Heffernan, Renske Hoevers, Miriam C. Jones, Teemu Juselius, Edgar Karofeld, Klaus Holger Knorr, Atte Korhola, Dmitri Kupriyanov, Malin Kylander, Terri Lacourse, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Martin Lavoie, Geoffrey Lemdahl, Dominika Lucow, Gabriel Magnan, Alekss Maksims, Claudia A. Mansilla, Katarzyna Marcisz, Elena Marinova, Paul J.H. Mathijssen, Dmitri Mauquoy, Yuri Mazei, Natalia Mazei, Julia McCarroll, Robert McCulloch, Alice Milner, Yannick Miras, Fraser J.G. Mitchell, Elena Novenko, Nicolas Pelletier, Matthew Peros, Sanna Pillo, Louis-Martin Pilote, Guillaume Primeau, Damien Rius, Vincent Robin, Mylene Robitaille, Thomas P. Roland, Eleonor Ryberg, A. Britta K. Sannel, Karsten Schittek, Gabriel Servera-Vives, William Shotyk, Michal Slowinski, Normunds Stivrins, Ward Swinnen, Gareth Thompson, Alexei Tiunov, Andrey N. Tsyganov, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Gert Verstraeten, Tuomo Wallenius, Julia Webb, Debra A. Willard, Zicheng Yu, Claudio Zaccone, Hui Zhang
Poleward amplification, seasonal rainfall and forest heterogeneity in the Miocene of the eastern USA Poleward amplification, seasonal rainfall and forest heterogeneity in the Miocene of the eastern USA
Paleoclimate reconstructions can provide a window into the environmental conditions in Earth history when atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were higher than today. In the eastern USA, paleoclimate reconstructions are sparse, because terrestrial sedimentary deposits are rare. Despite this, the eastern USA has the largest population and population density in North America, and...
Authors
Tammo Reichgelt, Aly Baumgartner, Ran Feng, Debra A. Willard
A 1.8 million year history of Amazon vegetation A 1.8 million year history of Amazon vegetation
During the Pleistocene, long-term trends in global climate were controlled by orbital cycles leading to high amplitude glacial-interglacial variability. The history of Amazonian vegetation during this period is largely unknown since no continuous record from the lowland basin extends significantly beyond the last glacial stage. Here we present a paleoenvironmental record spanning the...
Authors
Andrea K. Kern, Thomas K. Akabane, Jaqueline Q. Ferreira, Cristiano M. Chiessi, Debra A. Willard, Fabricio Ferreira, Allan O. Sanders, Cleverson G. Silva, Catherine Rigsby, Francisco W. Cruz, Gary S. Dwyer, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Paul A. Baker
Biostratigraphically significant palynofloras from the Paleocene–Eocene boundary of the USA Biostratigraphically significant palynofloras from the Paleocene–Eocene boundary of the USA
Pollen and spores were recovered from the Paleocene Fort Union Formation and Paleocene–Eocene Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin (BHB), northwestern Wyoming, USA. In many local stratigraphic sections in the BHB, the base of the Eocene has been identified by the characteristic negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) that marks the beginning of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum...
Authors
Vera A. Korasidis, Scott L. Wing, Guy J. Harrington, Thomas Demchuk, J. Gfavendyck, Phillip E. Jardine, Debra A. Willard
Foreword: Wetland carbon and environmental management Foreword: Wetland carbon and environmental management
No abstract available.
Authors
Scott Covington, Debra A. Willard
Tidal erosion and upstream sediment trapping modulate records of land-use change in a formerly glaciated New England estuary Tidal erosion and upstream sediment trapping modulate records of land-use change in a formerly glaciated New England estuary
Land clearing, river impoundments, and other human modifications to the upland landscape and within estuarine systems can drive coastal change at local to regional scales. However, as compared with mid-latitude coasts, the impacts of human modifications along sediment-starved formerly glaciated coastal landscapes are relatively understudied. To address this gap, we present a late...
Authors
Justin L. Shawler, Christopher J. Hein, Elizabeth A Canuel, James M Kaste, Gregory G Fitzsimons, Ioannis Y. Georgiou, Debra A. Willard
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 109
Regional variability in peatland burning at mid-to high-latitudes during the Holocene Regional variability in peatland burning at mid-to high-latitudes during the Holocene
Northern peatlands store globally-important amounts of carbon in the form of partly decomposed plant detritus. Drying associated with climate and land-use change may lead to increased fire frequency and severity in peatlands and the rapid loss of carbon to the atmosphere. However, our understanding of the patterns and drivers of peatland burning on an appropriate decadal to millennial...
Authors
Thomas G. Sim, Graeme T. Swindles, Paul J. Morris, Andy J. Baird, Angela V. Gallego-Sala, Yuwan Wang, Maarten Blaauw, Philip Camill, Michelle Garneau, Mark Hardiman, Julie Loisel, Minna Valiranta, Lysanna Anderson, Karina Apolinarska, Femke Augustijns, Liene Aunina, Joannie Beaulne, Premysl Bobek, Werner Borken, Nils Broothaerts, Qiao-Yu Cui, Marissa A. Davies, Ana Ejarque, Michelle Farrell, Ingo Feeser, Angelica Feurdean, Richard Fewster, Sarah A. Finkelstein, Marie-Jose Gaillard, Mariusz Gałka, Annica Greisman, Liam Heffernan, Renske Hoevers, Miriam C. Jones, Teemu Juselius, Edgar Karofeld, Klaus Holger Knorr, Atte Korhola, Dmitri Kupriyanov, Malin Kylander, Terri Lacourse, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Martin Lavoie, Geoffrey Lemdahl, Dominika Lucow, Gabriel Magnan, Alekss Maksims, Claudia A. Mansilla, Katarzyna Marcisz, Elena Marinova, Paul J.H. Mathijssen, Dmitri Mauquoy, Yuri Mazei, Natalia Mazei, Julia McCarroll, Robert McCulloch, Alice Milner, Yannick Miras, Fraser J.G. Mitchell, Elena Novenko, Nicolas Pelletier, Matthew Peros, Sanna Pillo, Louis-Martin Pilote, Guillaume Primeau, Damien Rius, Vincent Robin, Mylene Robitaille, Thomas P. Roland, Eleonor Ryberg, A. Britta K. Sannel, Karsten Schittek, Gabriel Servera-Vives, William Shotyk, Michal Slowinski, Normunds Stivrins, Ward Swinnen, Gareth Thompson, Alexei Tiunov, Andrey N. Tsyganov, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Gert Verstraeten, Tuomo Wallenius, Julia Webb, Debra A. Willard, Zicheng Yu, Claudio Zaccone, Hui Zhang
Poleward amplification, seasonal rainfall and forest heterogeneity in the Miocene of the eastern USA Poleward amplification, seasonal rainfall and forest heterogeneity in the Miocene of the eastern USA
Paleoclimate reconstructions can provide a window into the environmental conditions in Earth history when atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were higher than today. In the eastern USA, paleoclimate reconstructions are sparse, because terrestrial sedimentary deposits are rare. Despite this, the eastern USA has the largest population and population density in North America, and...
Authors
Tammo Reichgelt, Aly Baumgartner, Ran Feng, Debra A. Willard
A 1.8 million year history of Amazon vegetation A 1.8 million year history of Amazon vegetation
During the Pleistocene, long-term trends in global climate were controlled by orbital cycles leading to high amplitude glacial-interglacial variability. The history of Amazonian vegetation during this period is largely unknown since no continuous record from the lowland basin extends significantly beyond the last glacial stage. Here we present a paleoenvironmental record spanning the...
Authors
Andrea K. Kern, Thomas K. Akabane, Jaqueline Q. Ferreira, Cristiano M. Chiessi, Debra A. Willard, Fabricio Ferreira, Allan O. Sanders, Cleverson G. Silva, Catherine Rigsby, Francisco W. Cruz, Gary S. Dwyer, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Paul A. Baker
Biostratigraphically significant palynofloras from the Paleocene–Eocene boundary of the USA Biostratigraphically significant palynofloras from the Paleocene–Eocene boundary of the USA
Pollen and spores were recovered from the Paleocene Fort Union Formation and Paleocene–Eocene Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin (BHB), northwestern Wyoming, USA. In many local stratigraphic sections in the BHB, the base of the Eocene has been identified by the characteristic negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) that marks the beginning of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum...
Authors
Vera A. Korasidis, Scott L. Wing, Guy J. Harrington, Thomas Demchuk, J. Gfavendyck, Phillip E. Jardine, Debra A. Willard
Foreword: Wetland carbon and environmental management Foreword: Wetland carbon and environmental management
No abstract available.
Authors
Scott Covington, Debra A. Willard
Tidal erosion and upstream sediment trapping modulate records of land-use change in a formerly glaciated New England estuary Tidal erosion and upstream sediment trapping modulate records of land-use change in a formerly glaciated New England estuary
Land clearing, river impoundments, and other human modifications to the upland landscape and within estuarine systems can drive coastal change at local to regional scales. However, as compared with mid-latitude coasts, the impacts of human modifications along sediment-starved formerly glaciated coastal landscapes are relatively understudied. To address this gap, we present a late...
Authors
Justin L. Shawler, Christopher J. Hein, Elizabeth A Canuel, James M Kaste, Gregory G Fitzsimons, Ioannis Y. Georgiou, Debra A. Willard
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government