Heili Lowman
Start date: Autumn 2026
I am a broadly trained watershed biogeochemist and aquatic ecologist who is fundamentally interested in examining how signals of disturbance propagate through watersheds and across ecosystem boundaries. My research program links two primary themes – (1) aquatic biogeochemistry at the terrestrial-aquatic interface and (2) aquatic ecosystem responses to and memory of disturbance. Recent and ongoing projects are located in a variety of environments, including arid, forested, and snow-dominated watersheds, where I pair in situ sampling and instrumentation with frequentist, Bayesian, and machine learning approaches to monitor spatial and temporal change. In particular, I focus on time series methods that are well-suited to quantify the magnitude and duration of responses to disturbance and to measure ecological memory, i.e. the contribution of antecedent conditions on current measures of aquatic ecosystem function. Through this research, I seek to improve our understanding of macroscale controls on terrestrial-aquatic connectivity, contribute to broadscale watershed ecology theory, and inform predictions of aquatic ecosystem resilience.
Selected publications
Lowman, H.E., R. Shriver, R.O. Hall, Jr., J. Harvey, P. Savoy, C. Yackulic, J. Blaszczak. 2024. Macroscale controls determine the recovery of river ecosystem productivity following flood disturbances. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121, e2307065121.
Lowman, H.E., J. Blaszczak, A. Cale, X. Dong, S. Earl, J. Grabow, N.B. Grimm, T.K. Harms, J. Melack, A.M. Reinhold, B. Summers, A.J. Webster. 2024. Persistent and lagged effects of fire on stream solutes linked to intermittent precipitation in arid lands. Biogeochemistry Letters, 167, 777–791.
Marzolf, N.S., M.J. Vlah, H.E. Lowman, W.M. Slaughter, E.S. Bernhardt. 2024. Phenology of gross primary productivity in rivers displays high variability within years but stability across years. Limnology & Oceanography Letters, 9, 524–531.
Carter, A., H.E. Lowman, C. Barbosa, J. Blaszczak, S. Collins, M. DeSiervo, M. Dunkle, I. Oleksy, C. Torrens, R.O. Hall, Jr. 2024. Exceptions to the heterotrophic rule: Prevalence and drivers of autotrophy in streams and rivers. Ecosystems, 27, 969–985.
Harms, T., H.E. Lowman, J.R. Blaszczak, A. Cale, X. Dong, S. Earl, L. Gaines-Sewell, J. Grabow, E. Hanan, J. Melack, A.M. Reinhold, B. Summers, A.J. Webster, N.B. Grimm. 2025. Fire influence on land-water interactions in aridland catchments. BioScience, 75, 30-46.
Lowman, H.E., R. Shriver, R.O. Hall, Jr., J. Harvey, P. Savoy, C. Yackulic, J. Blaszczak. 2024. Macroscale controls determine the recovery of river ecosystem productivity following flood disturbances. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121, e2307065121.
Lowman, H.E., J. Blaszczak, A. Cale, X. Dong, S. Earl, J. Grabow, N.B. Grimm, T.K. Harms, J. Melack, A.M. Reinhold, B. Summers, A.J. Webster. 2024. Persistent and lagged effects of fire on stream solutes linked to intermittent precipitation in arid lands. Biogeochemistry Letters, 167, 777–791.
Marzolf, N.S., M.J. Vlah, H.E. Lowman, W.M. Slaughter, E.S. Bernhardt. 2024. Phenology of gross primary productivity in rivers displays high variability within years but stability across years. Limnology & Oceanography Letters, 9, 524–531.
Carter, A., H.E. Lowman, C. Barbosa, J. Blaszczak, S. Collins, M. DeSiervo, M. Dunkle, I. Oleksy, C. Torrens, R.O. Hall, Jr. 2024. Exceptions to the heterotrophic rule: Prevalence and drivers of autotrophy in streams and rivers. Ecosystems, 27, 969–985.
Harms, T., H.E. Lowman, J.R. Blaszczak, A. Cale, X. Dong, S. Earl, L. Gaines-Sewell, J. Grabow, E. Hanan, J. Melack, A.M. Reinhold, B. Summers, A.J. Webster, N.B. Grimm. 2025. Fire influence on land-water interactions in aridland catchments. BioScience, 75, 30-46.