HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH

Widespread use of bedrock water by woody plants across the U.S.

Check out my 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.

Picture of a tree in front of a waterfall in Ghana

About Me

I am a third-year PhD Candidate in the Konings Remote Sensing Ecohydrology Group at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability in the Department of Earth System Science. I am an NSF GRFP recipient and a Stanford 2024-2026 DARE Fellow (Diversying Academia, Recruiting Excellence).

I grew up on a horse ranch in northeast Texas and went to boarding school at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, where I graduated in 2016. I received my B.S. in 2020 from the University of Texas at Austin in Environmental Science (Geology Track) and stayed at UT as a full-time researcher in Daniella Rempe's group before coming to Stanford in 2022.

My research uses satellite remote sensing to understand where, when, and why vegetation accesses water stored in weathered bedrock (as opposed to soils) and what the implications of rock moisture are for forest resilience to climate change. In my free time, I get outside as much as possible, play fetch with my dog, play bluegrass and folk music, and dabble in ceramics and fiber arts!

Contact me at ericamcc [at] stanford [dot] edu 

headshot of Erica McCormick climbing a tree

Publications

In Progress

D. M. Rempe*, E. L. McCormick*, W. J. Hahm, G. Persad, C. Cummins, D. A. Lapides, K. D. Chadwick, D. Dralle. Resilience of woody ecosystems to precipitation variability. (In Prep) 10.31223/X5XW7D. [pdf] *co-first author

2025

E. L. McCormick, C. A. Famiglietti, D. Feng, A. M. Michalak, A. G. Konings. Susceptibility to photosynthesis suppression from extreme storms is highly site-dependent. (2025). Global Change Biology. 10.1111/gcb.70257. [pdf]

M. Zhao, E. L. McCormick, G. A, A. G. Konings, B. Li. Substantial root-zone water storage capacity observed by GRACE and GRACE/FO. (2025). Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 10.5194/hess-29-2293-2025. [pdf]

2024

A.G. Konings, K. Rao, E. L. McCormick, A.T. Trugman, A.P. Williams, N.S. Diffenbaugh, M. Yebra, M. Zhao (2024) Species cover explains only half of spatial variability in plant water sensitivity. Global Change Biology. 10.1111/gcb.17425. [pdf]

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

Cartoon of a green coronavirus with a red and black background from the cover of the magazine

Les Arbres Boivent De L’eau Dans Les Roches

Science and Vie Magazine (Dec 2021)

Map of the world with flags shaped by leaves showing where profiles have been done

AGU Ecohydrology "Meet a Leaf" Profile

American Geophysical Union (11/22/21)

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Tree with roots on the surface of the ground

Trees Drill into Deep Bedrock for Water Surprisingly Often

Scientific American (Dec, 2021)

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Tree with prominent roots

Thirsty Plants Pull Water from Bedrock

Eos (October 18, 2021)

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Oak tree with prominent roots

Water in Bedrock is Sustaining Trees Across Country

University of Texas (September 8, 2021)

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Tree sticking out of rock with light behind

Could the Water in Bedrock Save our Forest Ecosystems from Climate Change?

Simon Fraser University (September 8, 2021)

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