I am an ecologist who studies how human activities impact ecosystems, and how we can design strategies to restore degraded habitats. I focus on how plants within a community interact with each other and with soil to influence ecosystem function and resilience in the face of future disturbances.
My projects mix field experiments, analysis of “big data”, and basic natural history to investigate fundamental questions about how we can best conserve biodiversity.
Among the main questions that my research investigates are:
1) The ecology and management of invasive species;
2) The design of restoration strategies;
and 3) The ecology of our region’s unique barren ecosystems.
Evolution, Genetics, and Ecology (BIO103)
Introduction to Environmental Studies (ENS100)
Plant Ecology (BIO324)
Advanced Topics in Ecology (BIO329)
ESPE Senior Seminar (ENS460)
Selected Publications: [See Publications for more details and pdf’s]
Corbin, J.D. 2025. The influence of exotic species’ legacies on pathways of restoration. Restoration Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.14381 (OpenAccess link)
Malatesta†, A., B. Henry, and J.D. Corbin. 2025. Legacies of past housing discrimination in the present-day urban forest of a moderate-sized US city. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 104: 128679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128679 (OpenAccess link)
Garbowski, M., D.C. Laughlin, D.M. Blumenthal, H.R. Sofaer, D.T. Barnett, E.M. Beaury, D.M. Buonaiuto, J.D. Corbin, J.S. Dukes, R. Early, A.N. Nebhut, L. Petri, M. Vilà, I.S. Pearse. 2024. Naturalized species drive functional trait shifts in plant communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 121: e2403120121 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2403120121
Corbin, J.D., M. A. Duffy, J. L. Gill, and C. Ziter (2024), Climate education that builds hope and agency, not fear. Eos 105(1):13-17. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EO230302
Corbin, J.D. and E. L. Flatland†. 2022. Mapping edaphic soils conditions to identify conservation targets for pine barren and sandplain ecosystems in New York State. Ecology and Evolution 12:e9282. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9282
Corbin, J.D. and R.K. Thiet. 2020. Temperate biocrusts: mesic counterparts to their better-known dryland cousins. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2234
Beaury, E.M. J.T. Finn, J.D. Corbin, V. Barr, B.A. Bradley. 2019. Biotic resistance to invasion is ubiquitous across ecosystems of the United States. Ecology Letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13446
Dr. Jeffrey D. Corbin 