PNNL

Nate McDowell was originally trained in plant physiological ecology, the concepts of which he now applies at global scales to understand terrestrial ecosystems. His work has focused on how environmental conditions regulate the distribution, growth, and survival of plants; the subsequent impacts on ecosystem functions; and mitigation strategies. His team uses theory, observations, experiments, and models to generate and test novel hypotheses targeting the largest possible advances in scientific understanding and value to society. 

• Plant Physiological Ecology
• Ecosystem Ecology
• Global Ecology
• Forestry
• Integrated Approaches

• Stable Isotopes
• Empirical Techniques
• Model-Data Integration

• PhD in forest ecology, Oregon State University
• MS in forest resources, University of Idaho
• BS in biology, University of Michigan

• Associate Professor, Washington State University, 2019 - present
• Adjunct Professor Arizona State U., Global Drylands Institute, 2018 - present
• Editor, New Phytologist, 2010 – present
• Member, American Geophysical Union
• Member, Ecological Society of America
• Member, Society of American Foresters
• Guest Editor, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2007 – 2010 
• Lead Editor, New Phytologist Special Issue, “Drought impacts on tropical forests,” 2018
• Co-editor, Environmental Research Letters Special Issue, “Tree mortality in a warming world: causes, patterns, and implications,” 2017
• Lead Editor, New Phytologist Special Issue, “Drought and Forest Mortality,” 2013 
• Editor, Frontiers in Plant Biophysics and Modeling, 2012 – 2015
• Editor, Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 2007 – 2010 
• Editor, Tree Physiology, 2004 – 2007

• Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher, 2016 – 2024 
• Tansley Award: highest number of edited paper citations by an editor at New Phytologist,  2023
• Fellow, Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape, 2014
• Outstanding Mentor Award, Department of Energy, 2010
• Royal Society Visiting Scientist to the United Kingdom, 2010
• Fulbright Scholar, Slovenia, 2010 – 2011
• Department of Energy Early Career Award: An integrated theory on the mechanisms of vegetation survival and mortality during drought, 2010
• Distinguished Mentor Award, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2008

Google Scholar Page

2025

• Asao S., D. Way, M. Turnbull, M. Stitt, N.G. McDowell, P.B. Reich, and K. Bloomfield, et al. 2025. "Leaf Nonstructural Carbohydrate Residence Time, Not Concentration, Correlates with Leaf Functional Traits Following the Leaf Economic Spectrum in Woody Plants." New Phytologist 246, no. 4:1505-1519. PNNL-SA-207627. doi:10.1111/nph.20315
• Groover A., N. Holbrook, A. Polle, A. Sala, B. Medlyn, C. Brodersen, and J. Pittermann, et al. 2025. "Tree drought physiology: critical research questions and strategies for mitigating climate change effects on forests." New Phytologist 245, no. 5:1817-1832. PNNL-SA-207588. doi:10.1111/nph.20326
• Jardine K., R. Oliveira, P. Ajami, R. Knox, C.D. Koven, B. Gimenez, and G.C. Spanner, et al. 2025. "Real-time partitioning of diurnal stem CO2 efflux into local stem respiration and xylem transport processes." International Journal of Plant Biology 16, no. 2:Art. No. 46. PNNL-SA-213716. doi:10.3390/ijpb16020046
• Kassianov E.I., C.J. Flynn, J. Barnard, L.K. Berg, S.J. Beus, X. Chen, and S. China, et al. 2025. "Radiative impact of record-breaking wildfires from integrated ground-based data." Scientific Reports 15:Art. No. 8262. PNNL-SA-190279. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-85103-1
• Kirwan M., H.A. Michael, K. Gedan, K. Tully, S. Fagherazzi, N.G. McDowell, and G. Molino, et al. 2025. "Feedbacks Regulating the Salinization of Coastal Landscapes." Annual Review of Marine Science 17:461-484. PNNL-SA-203459. doi:10.1146/annurev-marine-070924-031447
• Stegen J.C., A. Burgin, M.H. Busch, J.B. Fisher, J. Ladau, J. Abrahamson, and L. Kinsman-Costello, et al. 2025. "Reviews and Syntheses: Variable Inundation Across Earth’s Terrestrial Ecosystems." Biogeosciences 22, no. 4:995-1034. PNNL-SA-194427. doi:10.5194/bg-22-995-2025

2024

• Robbins, Z., Christoffersen, B., Knox, R., Fisher, R., Chitra-Tarak, R., Slot, M., Solander, K., Kueppers, L.M., Koven, C., McDowell, N.G., Xu, C. Future climate doubles the risk of hydraulic failure in a wet tropical forest. New Phytologist. doi: 10.1111/nph.19956.
• Thompson, R.A., Malone, S.C., Peltier, D., Six, D., Robertson, N., Oliveira Jr, C., McIntire, C.D., Pockman, W.T., McDowell, N.G., Trowbridge, A.M. and Adams, H.D. Local carbon reserves are insufficient for phloem terpene induction during drought in Pinus edulis in response to bark beetle‐associated fungi. New Phytologist. doi: 10.1111/nph.20051.
• Abeshu, G.W., Li, H.Y., Shi, M., Brookshire, J., Tang, J., Xu, C., McDowell, N. and Leung, L.Y.R. Generalized Relationship Linking Water Balance and Vegetation Productivity across Site-to-Regional Scales. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 29(5), p.04024030.
• Machado-Silva, F., Ward, N.D., Doro, K.O., Regier, P.J., Ehosioke, S., Thomas, S.P., Peixoto, R.B., Sandoval, L., Forbrich, I., Kemner, K.M., O’Loughlin., E., Setten, L., ... Patel, K., McDowell N.G., Rich, R.l., Bond-Lamberty, B.P., Megonigal J.P. Short-Term Groundwater Level Fluctuations Drive Subsurface Redox Variability. Environmental Science & Technology, 53(8).
• Patel, K.F., Rod, K.A., Zheng, J., Regier, P., Machado-Silva, Bond-Lamberty, B., Chen, X., Day, D.J., Kovach, M., Time to anoxia: Observations and predictions of oxygen drawdown following coastal flood events. Geoderma, 444, p.116854.

2023

• McDowell NG, Y Fang, R Prasad, M Shi, K Tamudden. The carbon and water implications of forestation and deforestation. US Department of Energy, contract DE-ACO5-76RL01830.
• Fernandez de Una L, J Martinez-Vilalta, R Poyatos, M Mencuccini, NG McDowell. Tansley Review: The role of height-driven constraints and compensations on tree vulnerability to drought. New Phytologist, 239(6): 2083-2098.
• Ding J, McDowell NG, Fang Y, Ward N, Kirwan ML, Zhang H, Wang W, Modelling the mechanisms of conifer mortality under seawater exposure. New Phytologist, 239(5): 1679-1691.
• Zhang H., NG McDowell, X Li; Huo J, Y Li, Z Wang. Hydraulic safety and growth rather than climate of origin regulate survival in native and introduced desert woody plants. Forest Ecology and Management, 543 p 112130.
• Jardine K, NG McDowell. Tansley Review: Fermentation-mediated growth, signaling and defense in plants. New Phytologist, 239(3): 839-851.
• Xu C, Christoffersen B, Robbins Z, Knox R, Fisher RA, Chitra-Tarak R, Slot M, Solander K, Kueppers L, Koven CD, McDowell NG. Quantification of hydraulic trait control on plant hydrodynamics and risk of hydraulic failure within a demographic structured vegetation model in a tropical forest (FATES-HYDRO V1.0). Geophysical Model Development, 4133-4164.
• Li L, Y Fang, Z Zheng, M Shi, M Longo, CD Koven, JA Holm, RA Fisher, NG McDowell, J Chambers, LR Leung. A machine learning approach targeting parameter estimation for plant functional type coexistence modeling using ELM-FATES (v2.0). EGUsphere, pp.1-53.
• Davidson KJ, Lamour J, Rogers A, Ely KS, Li Q, McDowell NG, Pivovaroff AL, Wolfe BT, Wright SJ, Zambrano A, Serbin SP. Short‐term variation in leaf‐level water use efficiency in a tropical forest. New Phytologist, 237(6), pp.2069-2087.
• Liu Q, Peng C, Schneider R, Cyr D, McDowell NG, Kneeshaw D. Vegetation browning: global drivers, impacts, and feedbacks. Trends in Plant Sciences 29(8), pp.2274-2285.
• McDowell NG, Anderson-Teixeira K, Biederman JA, Breshears DD, Fang Y, Fernández-de-Uña L, Graham EB, Mackay DS, McDonnell JJ, Moore G, Nehemy MF, Stevens Rumann CS, Stegen J, Tague N, Turner MG, Chen X. Ecohydrological decoupling under changing disturbances and climate. One Earth, 6(3), pp. 251-266.
• Wolfe BT, Detto M, Zhang Y, Anderson-Teixeira KJ, Brodribb T, Collins AD, Crawford C, Dickman LT, Ely KS, Francisco J, Gurry PD, Hancock H, King CT, Majekobaje AR, Mallett CJ, McDowell NG, Mendheim Z, Michaletz ST, Myers DB, Price TJ, Rogers A, Sack L, Serbin SP, Siddiq Z, Willis D, Wu J, Zailaa J, Wright SJ. Leaves as bottlenecks: The contribution of tree leaves to hydraulic resistance within the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Plant, Cell and Environment 46(3), pp.736-746.

2022

• Hopple AM, Doro KO, Bailey VL, Bond-Lamberty B, McDowell NG, Morris K, Myers-Pigg A, Pennington S, Regier P, Rich R, Sengupta A, Smith R, Stegen J, Ward ND, Woodard SC, Megonigal JP. Attaining freshwater and estuarine-water soil saturation in an ecosystem-scale coastal flooding experiment. Environmental Modeling and Assessment, 195(3), p425.
• Wang M, C Xu, DJ Johnson, CD Allen, M Anderson, G Wang, G Qie, KC Solander, NG McDowell. Multi-scale quantification of anthropogenic, fire, and drought-associated forest disturbances across the continental U.S. 2000-2014. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.693418.
• Meng L, J Chambers, C Koven, G Pastorello, B Gimenez, K Jardine, Y Tang, NG McDowell, R Negron-Juarez, M Longo, A Araujo, J Tomasella, C Fontes, M Mohan, N Higuchi. Soil moisture thresholds explain a shift from light- to water-limited sap velocity in the Central Amazon during the 2015-16 El Niño drought. Environmental Research Letters 17(6) 064023.
• Shao J, X Zhou, D Zhai, T Yuan, Z Li, Y He, NG McDowell. Embolism resistance explains mortality and recovery of five subtropical evergreen broadleaf trees to persistent drought. Ecology DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3877.
• Li, W., McDowell, N.G., Zhang, H., Wang, W., Mackay, D.S., Leff, R., Zhang, P., Ward, N.D., Norwood, M., Yabusaki, S., Myers‐Pigg, A.N., et al. The influence of increasing atmospheric CO2, temperature, and vapor pressure deficit on seawater‐induced tree mortality. New Phytologist. 235(5), 1767-1779.
• Vicente-Serrano S, Miralles D, McDowell N, Brodribb T Domínguez-Castro F, Leung R, Koppa A. The uncertain role of rising atmospheric CO2 on global plant transpiration. Earth Science Reviews, p.104055.

2021

• Hoffman FM, Kumar J, Shi Z, Walker AP, Mao J, Wang Y, Swann AL, Randerson JT, Mishra U, Kooperman GJ Ki H, Xu C, Koven CD, Lawrence D, Fowler M, Fowler M, De Kauwe M, Medlyn B, Gu L, Agee L, Warren J, Serbin S, Rogers A, Keenan T, McDowell NG, Collier N, Sreepath S, Restropo J, Archibald R, Bao F, Mill RT. AI-Constrained Bottom-Up Ecohydrology and Improved Prediction of Seasonal, Interannual, and Decadal Flood and Drought Risks (No. AI4ESP-1060). Artificial Intelligence for Earth System Predictability (AI4ESP) Collaboration (United States).
• Dewhirst R.A., Handakumbura, P., Clendinen, C.S., Arm, E., Tate, K., Wang, W., Washton, N.M., Young, R.P., Mortimer, J.C., McDowell, N.G., and Jardine, K.J. High temperature acclimation of leaf gas exchange, photochemistry, and metabolomic profiles in Populus trichocarpa. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, 5(8), pp.1813-1828.
• Wu, D., Vargas, G.G., Powers, J.S., McDowell, N.G., Becknell, J.M., Pérez‐Aviles, D., Medvigy, D., Liu, Y., Katul, G.G., Calvo‐Alvarado, J.C. and Calvo‐Obando, A. Reduced ecosystem resilience quantifies fine‐scale heterogeneity in tropical forest mortality responses to drought. Global Change Biology. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16046. 2081-2094.
• Trowbridge, A., Adams, H., Collins, A., Dickman, L., Grossiord, C., Hofland, M., Malone, S., Weaver, D., Sevanto, S., Stoy, P., McDowell, N. Hotter droughts increase resource allocation to chemical defenses in piñon pine. Oecologia. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-021-05058-8. 921-938.
• Pivovaroff AL, McDowell NG, Barrozo Rodrigues T., Brodribb T., Cernusak L.A., Choat B., Grossiord C., Ishida Y., Jardine K., Laurance S., ... de J. Sampaio Filho I, Souza DS, Wang W, Zhang P, Chambers JQ. Stability of tropical forest tree carbon-water relations in a rainfall exclusion treatment through shifts in effective water uptake depth. Global Change Biology. DOI:10.1111/gcb.15869. 6454-6466.
• Konings AG, SS Saatchi, C Frankenberg, M Keller, V Leshyk, WRL Anderegg, V Humphrey, AM Matheny, A Trugman, L Sack, E Agee, ML Barnes, O Binks, K Cawse‐Nicholson, BO Christoffersen, D Entekhabi, P Gentine, NM Holtzman, GG Katul, Y Liu, M Longo, J Martinez‐Vilalta, N McDowell, P Meir, M Mencuccini, A Mrad, KA Novick, RS Oliveira, P Siqueira, SC Steele‐Dunne, DR Thompson, Y Wang, R Wehr, JD Wood, X Xu, and PA Zuidema. Detecting forest response to drought with global observations of vegetation water content. Global Change Biology. gcb.15872. DOI:10.1111/gcb.15872. 6005-6024.
• Huang J., Hammerbacher A., Gershenzon J., Reichelt M., van Dam N.M., Sala A., McDowell NG, Chowdhury S., Gleixner G., Trumbore S., Hartmann H. Evidence from spruce clones shows that carbon reserves in trees are not merely a metabolic left-over but a priority sink. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 118(33). e2023297118. DOI:10.1073/pnas.2023297118.

2020

• Wu G, Guan K, Li Y, Novick K, Feng X, McDowell NG, Konings A, Thompson S, John Kimball J. Interannual variability of ecosystem iso/anisohydry is regulated by environmental dryness. New Phytologist, 229(5), pp.2562-2575.
• Zhang H, Wang W, Pivovaroff AL, Li W, Zhang P, Ward ND, Myers-Pigg A, Adams HD, Leff RT, Wang A, Yuan F, Wu J, Yabusaki S, Waichler S, Bailey VL, Guan D, McDowell NG. Seawater Exposure Causes Hydraulic Damage in Dying Sitka-Spruce Trees. Plant Physiology 187(2). 873–885. DOI:10.1093/plphys/kiab295.
• Li W, H Zhang, G Huang, R Liu, H Wu, C Zhao, NG McDowell. Effects of nitrogen enrichment on tree carbon allocation: a global synthesis. Global Ecology and Biogeography https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13042. 573-589.
• Halbritter AH, NG McDowell, and 113 co-authors. The handbook for standardised field and laboratory measurements in terrestrial climate change experiments and observational studies (ClimEx). Methods in Ecology and Evolution 11(11) p 22-37.
• Grossiord C, Buckley TN, Cernusak LA, Novick KA, Poulter B, Siegwolf R, Sperry JS, McDowell NG. Plant responses to rising evaporative demand. New Phytologist, 226(6), pp 1550-1566.
• Guérin M, von Arx G, Martin-Benito D, Andreu-Hayles L, Griffin K, McDowell NG, Pockman WT, Gentine P. Opposite xylem responses to extreme vs. prolonged drought in pine trees. Tree Physiology 40(5), pp 605-620.

2019

• McDowell N.G., R. Prasad, M.L. Moore, Z. Tan, and M.D. Hurteau. Final Report for SERDP Limited-Scope Project RC18-1605: Value and Resiliency of Ecosystem Services on Department of Defense Lands. PNNL-29222. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
• Xu, C., McDowell NG, Fisher RA, Wei L, Sevanto S, Christoffersen BO, Weng E, Middleton RS. Increasing impacts of extreme droughts on vegetation productivity under climate change. Nature Climate Change, 9(12), pp.948-953.
• Massoud, E.C., Xu, C., Fisher RA, Knox RG, Walker AP, Serbin SP, Christoffersen BO, Holm JA, Kueppers LM, Ricciuto DM, Wei L, Johnson DJ, Chambers JQ, Koven CD, McDowell NG, Vrugt JA. Identification of key parameters controlling demographically structured vegetation dynamics in a land surface model: CLM4.5 (FATES). Geoscientific Model Development, 12(9), pp.4133-4164.

2018

• U.S. DOE. Disturbance and vegetation dynamics in Earth System Models: Workshop Report. DOE/SC-0196. Office of Biological and Environmental Research, U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Science.
• Forzieri G, Dikos V, McDowell NG, Romain A, Cescatti A. Emerging signals of declining forest resilience under climate change. Nature 608(7923), 534-539.

2016

• Hoffman FM, CD Koven, G Kappel-Aleks, DM Lawrence, W Riley, JT Randerson, A Ahlstrom, G Abramowitz, D Baldocchi, B Bond-Lamberty, MG De Kauwe, S Denning, AR Desai, V Eyring, JB Fisher, R Fisher, PJ Gleckler, M Huang, G Hugelius, AK Jain, NY Kiang, H Kim, R Koster, SV Kumar, H Li, Y Luo, J Mao, NG McDowell, U Mishra, P Moorcroft, G Pau, DM Ricciuto, K Schaefer, C Schwalm, S Serbin, E Shevliakova, AG Slater, J Tang, M Williams, J Xia, C Xu, R Joseph, and D Koch. International Land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) Workshop Report, Technical Report DOE/SC-0186. PNNL-26550, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA.

1999-2015

• McDowell NG, Hanson PJ, Ibáñez I, Phillips RP, Ryan MG. Chapter 3: Physiological responses of forests to future drought. In: Future Drought in US forests: anticipate and manage for change. Forest Service General Technical Report.
• U.S. DOE. Research Priorities for Tropical Ecosystems Under Climate Change Workshop Report, DOE/SC-0153.
• U.S. DOE. Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration: Report from the March 2008 Workshop, DOE/SC-108, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.
• Hanson P.J., A. Classen, L. Kueppers, Y. Luo, N.G. McDowell, J. Morris, A. Rogers, P. Thornton, R. Ceulemans, J. Dukes, M. Goulden, R. Jackson, A. Knapp, M. Kirschbaum, K. Lewin, M. MacCracken, J. Melillo, T. Ringler, and Workshop Participants. Ecosystem Experiments: Understanding Climate Change Impacts on Ecosystems and Feedbacks to the Physical Climate. Report of the workshop on Exploring Science Needs for the Next Generation of Climate Change and Elevated-CO2 Experiments in Terrestrial Ecosystems. U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.
• Kolb, T. and N.G. McDowell. Tree ecophysiology research at Taylor Woods. In: Oberding, SD, Moore, MM, eds, Fort Valley Experimental Forest-A Century of Research 1908-2008. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report, 408p.
• McDowell, N.G., J. D. Marshall, J. Qi, and K. Mattson. 1999. Direct inhibition of maintenance respiration in western hemlock roots exposed to ambient soil carbon dioxide concentrations. Tree Physiology. 19:599-605.
• McDowell, S. C. L., N.G. McDowell, J. D. Marshall, and K. Hultine. 2000. Carbon and nitrogen allocation to male and female reproduction in Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca, Pinaceae). American Journal of Botany. 87(4):539-546.