Les Arbres Boivent De L’eau Dans Les Roches
Science and Vie Magazine (Dec 2021)
Erica L. McCormick
Welcome! I am a PhD Student at Stanford in
Dr. Alexandra Konings' Remote Sensing Ecohydrology Group.
HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH
Widespread use of bedrock water by woody plants across the U.S.
Check out my most recent paper (published in Nature, September, 2021) where we use a combination of field and remotely sensed data to estimate the extent and frequency of bedrock water use by woody plants across the continental U.S. We find that forests commonly exist on shallow soils underlain by bedrock and that bedrock water, in the form of rock moisture and groundwater, is likely a critical source for transpiration for many ecosystems.
About Me
I am a first-year PhD Student and NSF GRFP recipient at the Stanford School of Earth (now Doerr School of Sustainability). I work in Alexandra Konings' Remote Sensing Ecohydrology Group.
I graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 2016 and recieved my B.S. in Environmental Science, Geology in 2020 from the Jackson School of Geoscience at UT Austin. After graduation, I continued to work as a full-time researcher in Daniella Rempe's group at the Jackson School of Geoscience.
My work revolves around understanding where, when, and why plants access water stored in bedrock. More broadly, I am interested in untangling how the various processes and resource limitations which govern transpiration can be measured and categorized at various scales in order to isolate thresholds and recommendations for forest health under climate change. I love field work, but I am also a highly competent coder who can't get enough Python and Google Earth Engine!
In my free time, I get outside as much as possible, play with my dog and partner, play bluegrass and folk music, and train for triathlons!
Contact me at ericamcc [at] stanford [dot] edu
Publications
In Progress
D. M. Rempe*,
2022
W. J. Hahm, D. A. Lapides, D. M. Rempe, E. L. McCormick, D. Dralle. The age of evapotranspiration: lower-bound constraints from distributed water fluxes across the continental United States. Water Resources Research (2022). 10.1029/2022WR032961. [pdf]
2021
E. L. McCormick, D. Dralle, W. J. Hahm, A. Tune, L. Schmidt, K. D. Chadwick, D. M. Rempe. (2021) Evidence for widespread woody plant use of water stored in bedrock.Nature. 10.1038/s41586-021-03761-3. [pdf] [Scientific American highlight, Eos spotlight, UT Austin News, Simon Fraser University News]
Dralle, W.J. Hahm, K. Dana Chadwick, E. L. McCormick, D. M. Rempe. (2021) Technical note: Accounting for snow in the estimation of root-zone water storage capacity from precipitation and evapotranspiration fluxes. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 10.5194/hess-25-2861-2021. [pdf]
2019
Matheny, A.M., P. Marchetto, J. Powell, A. Rechner, J.-Y. Chuah, E. L. McCormick, S. Pierce (2019) LEAF: Logger for Ecological and Atmospheric Factors. HardwareX. 10.1016/j.ohx.2019.e00079. [pdf]
2018
Mursinna, A.R., E. L. McCormick, K. Van Horn, L. Sartin, A.M. Matheny (2018) Plant hydraulic trait covariation: a global meta-analysis to reduce degrees of freedom in trait-based hydrologic models. Forests.10.3390/f9080446. Cover Article. [pdf]
Press
AGU Ecohydrology "Meet a Leaf" Profile
American Geophysical Union (11/22/21)
Trees Drill into Deep Bedrock for Water Surprisingly Often
Scientific American (Dec, 2021)
Thirsty Plants Pull Water from Bedrock
Eos (October 18, 2021)
Water in Bedrock is Sustaining Trees Across Country
University of Texas (September 8, 2021)
Could the Water in Bedrock Save our Forest Ecosystems from Climate Change?
Simon Fraser University (September 8, 2021)