Toni Lyn Morelli, Ph.D.
Toni Lyn Morelli is a Research Ecologist at the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, where she uses field studies, ecological modeling, genetics, and translational ecology to help resource managers conserve species in the face of global change.
Toni Lyn grew up near Detroit and received a B.S. in Zoology from Michigan State University. For her Ph.D. at Stony Brook University, she studied lemur behavior, ecology, and genetics in Madagascar. After her Ph.D., Toni Lyn worked as a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley to understand how climate change had affected small mammals and montane meadows over the last century. She has also worked for the U.S. Forest Service, both as a research ecologist at the Pacific Southwest Research Station and as the Technical Advisor to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Toni Lyn uses translational ecology, species distribution modeling, occupancy modeling, geospatial analysis, population and landscape genetics techniques, and decision analysis to facilitate natural resource management and habitat and species conservation in the face of climate and land use change and invasive species. Current projects include studying the impacts of climate change in boreal ecosystems; helping the National Park Service update its taxonomy and analyze citizen science data; organizing a continent-wide network on Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (RISCC) Management; and a continued focus on operationalizing the concept of climate change refugia.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Stony Brook University
B.S. in Zoology, Michigan State University
Affiliations and Memberships*
Member of the USGS EMA DEIA Leadership Council, 2022
Member of the NECASC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, 2021-2022
Leader of the USGS CASC DEIA Recruitment and Retention Working Group, 2021-2022
Member of the USGS CASC Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Leadership Council, 2020-2022
Co-Leader of the CASC Inclusive Mentoring Working Group, 2021-2022
Associate Editor for Conservation Science & Practice, 2018-2022; recognized as 1 of 2 top CSP AEs
Member of the American Geophysical Union
Member of The Ecological Society of America
Member of the Society of Conservation Biology
Member of The Wildlife Society
Honors and Awards
Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies Climate Adaptation Leadership Award for Broad Participation (to NE Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (RISCC) Management Network)
University of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Conservation (ECo) Inaugural Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Faculty Award, 2021
USFWS Species Support Partnership (NE Region) Research Grant, 2021-2023
USGS Natural Resources Preservation Program (NE Region) Research Grant, 2019-21
USGS Ecosystems Mission Area Invasive Species Program Research Grant, 2020-2022
National Climate Adaptation Science Center Research Grant (co-I), 2020-2022
Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center Research Grant, 2019-2020
USGS-NPS Natural Resource Preservation Partnership, 2019-2020
Second Century Stewardship Fellowship 2018 (Postdoctoral Supervisee)
Community for Data Integration, USGS, 2017 (Co-PI)
Community for Data Integration, USGS, 2018 (Co-PI)
National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants 2017 Climate Adaptation Leadership Award for Natural Resources (awarded to the Massachusetts Wildlife Climate Action Tool Partnership)
YES Internship Awards (x2), USGS, 2017
USGS STAR Award, 2016
National Park Service Grant, Bioblitz Analysis, 2016
Science and Products
Mapping Climate Change Resistant Vernal Pools in the Northeastern U.S.
Webinar: How to Prioritize Key Areas for Conservation Efforts in a Changing Climate: A Look at “Climate Refugia”
Integrating Climate Change into the State Wildlife Action Plans
Evaluation of Downscaled Climate Modeling Techniques for the Northeast U.S.: A Case Study of Maple Syrup Production
Climate Effects on the Culture and Ecology of Sugar Maple
Climate Assessments and Scenario Planning (CLASP)
Translational science education through citizen science
Climate change risks and adaptation options for Madagascar
Identifying climate-resistant vernal pools: Hydrologic refugia for amphibian reproduction under droughts and climate change
Toward climate change refugia conservation at an ecoregion scale
Translational invasion ecology: Bridging research and practice to address one of the greatest threats to biodiversity
Ten simple rules for productive lab meetings
Abiotic stress and biotic factors mediate range dynamics on opposing edges
A climate risk management screening and assessment review for Madagascar’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy
Habitat use as indicator of adaptive capacity to climate change
Embracing the Future: Promoting adaptation and resilience to invasive species and climate change
Adaptation actions for resistance, resilience, and transformation
Climate-change refugia in boreal North America: What, where, and for how long?
Science and Products
- Science
Filter Total Items: 18
Mapping Climate Change Resistant Vernal Pools in the Northeastern U.S.
Vernal pools are small, seasonal wetlands that provide critically important seasonal habitat for many amphibian species of conservation concern. Natural resource managers and scientists in the Northeast, as well as the Northeast Refugia Research Coalition, coordinated by the Northeast CSC, recently identified vernal pools as a priority ecosystem to study, and recent revisions to State Wildlife ActWebinar: How to Prioritize Key Areas for Conservation Efforts in a Changing Climate: A Look at “Climate Refugia”
View this webinar to learn more about climate change refugia.Integrating Climate Change into the State Wildlife Action Plans
Fish and Wildlife agencies across the United States are currently revising their State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs). These documents are important planning documents over 10 year timescales. SWAP Coordinators have been challenged to incorporate climate change impacts and species responses as part of their strategic approaches to managing vulnerable fish and wildlife resources. The Northeast ClimaEvaluation of Downscaled Climate Modeling Techniques for the Northeast U.S.: A Case Study of Maple Syrup Production
Downscaling is the process of making a coarse-scale global climate model into a finer resolution in order to capture some of the localized detail that the coarse global models cannot resolve. There are two general approaches of downscaling: dynamical and statistical. Within those, many dynamical models have been developed by different institutions, and there are a number of statistical algorithmsClimate Effects on the Culture and Ecology of Sugar Maple
Maple syrup is produced from the sap of sugar maple trees collected in the late winter and early spring. Native American tribes have collected and boiled down sap for centuries, and the tapping of maple trees is a cultural touchstone for many people in the Northeast and Midwest. Overall demand for maple syrup has been rapidly rising as more people appreciate this natural sweetener. Yet because tClimate Assessments and Scenario Planning (CLASP)
This project compiled, synthesized, and communicated tailored climate change information to NE CASC stakeholders, including Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCC), state and federal agencies, and tribal communities. Our mission is to make climate science actionable by getting to know our stakeholders and the decisions they face, and delivering climate information that is directly relevant to th - Data
- Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 56
Translational science education through citizen science
Guided by the six elements of Translational Ecology (TE; i.e., decision-framing, collaboration, engagement, commitment, process, and communication), we showcase the first explicit example of a Translational Science Education (TSE) effort in the coastal redwood ecosystem of Humboldt County, CA. Using iNaturalist, a flexible and free citizen science/crowdsourcing app, we worked with students from grAuthorsAllison M. Young, Elizabeth F. van Mantgem, Alexis Garretson, Christine Noel, Toni Lyn MorelliClimate change risks and adaptation options for Madagascar
Climate change poses an increasing threat to achieving development goals and is often considered in development plans and project designs. However, there have been challenges in the effective implementation of those plans, particularly in the sustained engagement of the communities to undertake adaptive actions, but also due to insufficient scientific information to inform management decisions. MaAuthorsSarah R. Weiskopf, Janet Alice Cushing, Toni Lyn Morelli, Bonnie MyersIdentifying climate-resistant vernal pools: Hydrologic refugia for amphibian reproduction under droughts and climate change
Vernal pools of the northeastern United States provide important breeding habitat for amphibians but may be sensitive to droughts and climate change. These seasonal wetlands typically fill by early spring and dry by mid-to-late summer. Because climate change may produce earlier and stronger growing-season evapotranspiration combined with increasing droughts and shifts in precipitation timing, manaAuthorsJennifer M. Cartwright, Toni Lyn Morelli, Evan H. Campbell GrantToward climate change refugia conservation at an ecoregion scale
Climate change uncertainty poses serious challenges to conservation efforts. One emerging conservation strategy is to identify and conserve climate change refugia: areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change that enable persistence of valued resources. This management paradigm may be pursued at broad scales by leveraging existing resources and placing them into a tangible frameworkAuthorsCathleen Balantic, Andrea Adams, Shana Gross, Rachel Mazur, Sarah Sawyer, Jody Tucker, Marian Vernon, Claudia Mengelt, Jennifer Morales, James Thorne, Timothy Brown, Nicole Athearn, Toni Lyn MorelliTranslational invasion ecology: Bridging research and practice to address one of the greatest threats to biodiversity
Effective natural resource management and policy is contingent on information generated by research. Conversely, the applicability of research depends on whether it is responsive to the needs and constraints of resource managers and policy makers. However, many scientific fields including invasion ecology suffer from a disconnect between research and practice. Despite strong socio-political imperaAuthorsToni Lyn Morelli, Carrie Brown-Lima, Jenica M. Allen, Evelyn M. Beaury, Emily J. Fusco, Audrey Barker-Plotkin, Brittany B. Laginhas, Brendan Quirion, Bridget Griffin, Blair McLaughlin, Lara Munro, Nancy Olmstead, Julie Richburg, Bethany A. BradleyTen simple rules for productive lab meetings
The aim of this article is to delineate 10 simple rules on how to achieve productive lab meetings. We use the term “meeting” interchangeably to represent both the single meeting event and the overarching concept of the recurring meeting. In this article we speak from our experience, as a lab group at the University of Massachusetts that meets regularly (Fig 1). Although the rules are mostly tailorAuthorsNigel Golden, Kadambari Devarajan, Cathleen Balantic, Joseph Drake, Michael T. Hallworth, Toni Lyn MorelliAbiotic stress and biotic factors mediate range dynamics on opposing edges
AimIn the face of global change, understanding causes of range limits are one of the most pressing needs in biogeography and ecology. A prevailing hypothesis is that abiotic stress forms cold (upper latitude/altitude) limits, whereas biotic interactions create warm (lower) limits. A new framework – Interactive Range-Limit Theory (iRLT) – asserts that positive biotic factors such as food availabiliAuthorsAlexej P. K. Siren, Christopher Sutherland, Chris Bernier, Kimberly Royar, Jillian R. Kilborn, Catherine Callahan, Rachel Cliche, Leighlan Prout, Toni Lyn MorelliA climate risk management screening and assessment review for Madagascar’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy
Madagascar, a country rich in natural capital and biodiversity but with high levels of poverty, food insecurity, and population growth, faces a number of development challenges, including obtaining sustained financial support from external sources and building internal capacity to address the poor environmental, health, and socio-economic conditions. Climate change poses an increasing threat to acAuthorsJanet Alice Cushing, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Toni Lyn Morelli, Bonnie MyersHabitat use as indicator of adaptive capacity to climate change
AimPopulations of cold‐adapted species at the trailing edges of geographic ranges are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change from the combination of exposure to warm temperatures and high sensitivity to heat. Many of these species are predicted to decline under future climate scenarios, but they could persist if they can adapt to warming climates either physiologically oAuthorsClaire S. Teitelbaum, Alexej P. K. Siren, Ethan Coffel, Jane R. Foster, Jacqueline L. Frair, Joseph W. Hinton, Radley W. Horton, David W. Kramer, Corey Lesk, Colin Raymond, David Wattles, Katherine Zeller, Toni Lyn MorelliEmbracing the Future: Promoting adaptation and resilience to invasive species and climate change
No abstract available.AuthorsBianca Lopez, Carrie Brown-Lima, Justin Dalaba, Annette Evans, Meghan Graham MacLean, Toni Lyn MorelliAdaptation actions for resistance, resilience, and transformation
No abstract available.AuthorsA. Evans, Bianca Lopez, Meghan G. MacLean, Toni Lyn Morelli, R. Narayanan, M. OcanaClimate-change refugia in boreal North America: What, where, and for how long?
TThe vast boreal biome plays an important role in the global carbon cycle but is experiencing particularly rapid climate warming, threatening the integrity of valued ecosystems and their component species. We developed a framework and taxonomy to identify climate‐change refugia potential in the North American boreal region, summarizing current knowledge regarding mechanisms, geographic distributioAuthorsDiana Stralberg, Dominique Arseneault, Jennifer Baltzer, Quinn Barber, Erin Bayne, Yan Boulanger, Carissa Brown, Hilary Cooke, Kevin Devito, Jason Edwards, Cesar Estevo, Nadele Flynn, Lee Frelich, E. H. (T.) Hogg, Mark Johnston, Travis Logan, Steven M. Matsuoka, Paul Moore, Toni Lyn Morelli, Julienne Morissette, Elizabeth Nelson, Hedvig Nenzén, Scott Nielsen, Marc-André Parisien, John Pedlar, David Price, Fiona Schmiegelow, Stuart Slattery, Oliver Sonnentag, Daniel Thompson, Ellen Whitman - News
*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