Jeremy Littell, Ph.D.
Jeremy Littell is a Research Ecologist (Climate Impacts) with the Department of Interior Alaska Climate Science Center. He conducts research on the role of climate and ecological drought in Alaskan and other forested ecosystems. He also facilitates the use of climate information in planning, adaptation, and vulnerability assessment.
Biography
Littell's background is the ecoclimatology of western North America's forests. His doctoral work at the University of Washington focused on ecological and climatic controls on wildfire in the western U.S. and the role of climate in Douglas-fir tree growth across its climatic range. He also worked as a research scientist at the UW Climate Impacts Group, collaborating with resource managers in Federal and state agencies to better understand and use climate information in planning and adaptation. At the Alaska Climate Science Center, his current work adresses tow main themes:
- Development, coordination, and translation of climate science products for Alaska
- Observing and Understanding the Impacts of climate on Alaskan Forests
He also serves as an author on the Alaska chapter of the National Climate Assessment (NCA).
Science and Products
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the Nation, almost one-fifth the size of the combined lower 48 United States, and is rich in natural capital resources. Alaska is often identified as being on the front lines of climate change since it is warming faster than any other state and faces a myriad of issues associated with a changing climate....
Reidmiller, D. R.; Avery, C. W.; Easterling, D. R.; Kunkel, K. E.; Lewis, K. L. M.; Maycock, T. K.; Stewart, B. C.; Markon, Carl; Gray, Stephen; Berman, Matthew; Eerkes-Medrano, Laura; Hennessy, Thomas; Huntington, Henry P.; Littell, Jeremy S.; McCammon, Molly; Thoman, Richard; Trainor, Sarah Chapter 2: Climate, disturbance, and vulnerability to vegetation change in the Northwest Forest Plan Area
Climate change is expected to alter the composition, structure, and function of forested ecosystems in the United States (Vose et al. 2012). Increases in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (e.g., carbon dioxide [CO2]) and temperature, as well as altered precipitation and disturbance regimes (e.g., fire, insects, pathogens, and...
Reilly, Matthew J.; Spies, Thomas A.; Littell, Jeremy S.; Butz, Ramona J.; Kim, John B. Climate Change in Port Heiden, Alaska - Strategies for Community Health
There are two components to this document. The first component is the scope of described environmental change and its impacts in Port Heiden Alaska. The second component is a list of priorities to be addressed that will help Port Heiden achieve its vision for the future. Each priority area incorporates local knowledge with available climate...
Lujan, Erica; Brubaker, Mike; Warren, John; Christensen, Jaclyn; Anderson, Scott; O'Domin, Melissa; Littell, Jeremy S.; Buzard, Richard M.; Overbeck, Jacquelyn R.; Holen, Davin; Flensburg, Sue; Powers, Elizabeth Drought and fire in the western USA: Is climate attribution enough?
Purpose of ReviewI sought to review the contributions of recent literature and prior foundational papers to our understanding of drought and fire. In this review, I summarize recent literature on drought and fire in the western USA and discuss research directions that may increase the utility of that body of work for twenty-first century...
Littell, Jeremy S. Downscaling of climate model output for Alaskan stakeholders
The paper summarizes an end-to-end activity connecting the global climate modeling enterprise with users of climate information in Alaska. The effort included retrieval of the requisite observational datasets and model output, a model evaluation and selection procedure, the actual downscaling by the delta method with its...
Walsh, John E.; Bhatt, Uma S.; Littell, Jeremy S.; Leonawicz, Matthew; Lindgren, Michael; Kurkowski, Thomas A.; Bieniek, Peter A.; Thoman, Richard; Gray, Stephen; Rupp, T. Scott Climate change and future wildfire in the western USA: An ecological approach to nonstationarity
We developed ecologically based climate‐fire projections for the western United States. Using a finer ecological classification and fire‐relevant climate predictors, we created statistical models linking climate and wildfire area burned for ecosections, which are geographic delineations based on biophysical variables. The results indicate a...
Littell, Jeremy; McKenzie, Donald; Wan, Ho Yi; Cushman, Samuel A. Alaska snowpack response to climate change: Statewide snowfall equivalent and snowpack water scenarios
Climatically driven changes in snow characteristics (snowfall, snowpack, and snowmelt) will affect hydrologic and ecological systems in Alaska over the coming century, yet there exist no projections of downscaled future snow pack metrics for the state of Alaska. We updated historical and projected snow day fraction (PSF, the fraction of days with...
Littell, Jeremy S.; McAfee, Stephanie A.; Hayward, Gregory D. Foundations of translational ecology
Ecologists who specialize in translational ecology (TE) seek to link ecological knowledge to decision making by integrating ecological science with the full complement of social dimensions that underlie today's complex environmental issues. TE is motivated by a search for outcomes that directly serve the needs of natural resource managers and...
Enquist, Carolyn A. F.; Jackson, Stephen T.; Garfin, Gregg M.; Davis, Frank W.; Gerber, Leah R.; Littell, Jeremy S.; Tank, Jennifer L.; Terando, Adam; Wall, Tamara U.; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Morelli, Toni L.; Hiers, J. Kevin; McNie, Elizabeth; Stephenson, Nathan L.; Williamson, Matthew A.; Woodhouse, Connie A.; Yung, Laurie; Brunson, Mark W.; Hall, Kimberly R.; Hallett, Lauren M.; Lawson, Dawn M.; Moritz, Max A.; Nydick, Koren R.; Pairis, Amber; Ray, Andrea J.; Regan, Claudia M.; Safford, Hugh D.; Schwartz, Mark W.; Shaw, M. Rebecca Snow and ice: Chapter 3
Temperature and precipitation are key determinants of snowpack levels. Therefore, climate change is likely to affect the role of snow and ice in the landscapes and hydrology of the Chugach National Forest region.Downscaled climate projections developed by Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning (SNAP) are useful for examining projected...
Hayward, Gregory D.; Colt, Steve; McTeague, Monica L.; Hollingsworth, Teresa N.; Littell, Jeremy; McAfee, Stephanie A.; O'Neel, Shad; Sass, Louis C.; Burgess, Evan; Colt, Steve; Clark, Paul Climate change and the eco-hydrology of fire: Will area burned increase in a warming western USA?
Wildfire area is predicted to increase with global warming. Empirical statistical models and process-based simulations agree almost universally. The key relationship for this unanimity, observed at multiple spatial and temporal scales, is between drought and fire. Predictive models often focus on ecosystems in which this relationship appears to be...
McKenzie, Donald; Littell, Jeremy Changing water dynamics: The consequences of shifting snow, ice, and running water for ecosystems, people, and national forests in Alaska
Ecosystems of Alaska are rain-, snow-, and ice-driven systems. Consequently, the status of water—liquid or solid—strongly in uences resources and the people using ecosystem services. This document examines changes in water dynamics, the resulting consequences for ecosystems and people, and management options for adapting to changing conditions....
Hayward, Greg; Johnson, Erik; Walker, Nathan; Littell, Jeremy S.; Thompson, Julianne Reconstructions of Columbia River streamflow from tree-ring chronologies in the Pacific Northwest, USA
We developed Columbia River streamflow reconstructions using a network of existing, new, and updated tree-ring records sensitive to the main climatic factors governing discharge. Reconstruction quality is enhanced by incorporating tree-ring chronologies where high snowpack limits growth, which better represent the contribution of cool-season...
Littell, Jeremy; Pederson, Gregory T.; Gray, Stephen T.; Tjoelker, Michael; Hamlet, Alan F.; Woodhouse, Connie A.