Dr Maria B Mills
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mariabmills.bsky.social
Dr Maria B Mills
@mariabmills.bsky.social
Postdoctoral researcher in tropical vegetation monitoring 🍃 previous CENTA PhD student researching carbon dynamics in logged tropical forests 🌳
Reposted by Dr Maria B Mills
The time has come to value tropical fieldworkers as equal partners.

With billions spent on watching forests from space, the skills of foresters and botanists have never been more vital. In our #Nature correspondence we show why - and what needs to change.
#GEO-TREES
rdcu.be/enT5S
May 27, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by Dr Maria B Mills
So excited to finally share our new paper charting the global spectrum of tree crown architecture, out today at @natcomms.nature.com ‬🧪🌐

Paper link 🔗: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A brief thread of what we found 🧵
May 27, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Reposted by Dr Maria B Mills
My first PhD paper is now published in #STOTEN! We used a long-term fire experiment and ecosystem monitoring protocol to quantify the effect of burning on the productivity, respiration and ecosystem #carbon balance of Cerrado #savanna (1/6)

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The effect of fire on the carbon fluxes and productivity of Brazilian woodland savannas
The effects of altered fire regimes within open ecosystems are poorly understood and can have serious consequences on functioning and conservation acr…
www.sciencedirect.com
June 4, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Reposted by Dr Maria B Mills
Here’s our The Conversation piece about the research.
Reducing air pollution could increase methane emissions from wetlands – here’s what needs to be done
Improved computer models shed light on how reducing sulphur emissions will inadvertently release methane from wetlands.
theconversation.com
February 6, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Reposted by Dr Maria B Mills
Woody respiration is an important but unconstrained process in the forest carbon cycle. @mariabmills.bsky.social made real progress in Malaysian Borneo using lasers and climbing giants, so that you don't have to! She came away with great insights.

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Investigating the accuracy of tropical woody stem CO2 efflux estimates: scaling methods, and vertical and diel variation
Stem CO2 efflux (EA) significantly contributes to autotrophic and ecosystem respiration in tropical forests, but field methodologies often introduce biases and uncertainty. This study evaluates thes...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 8, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Our new paper is out today @newphyt.bsky.social We investigated the bias involved in woody stem CO2 efflux measurements in tropical forests - including diel and vertical variations, and used TLS to upscale vertical variations and estimate stem surface area nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Investigating the accuracy of tropical woody stem CO2 efflux estimates: scaling methods, and vertical and diel variation
Stem CO2 efflux (EA) significantly contributes to autotrophic and ecosystem respiration in tropical forests, but field methodologies often introduce biases and uncertainty. This study evaluates thes...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 7, 2025 at 8:00 AM
First week in Singapore is off to a flying start. Loving the City in Nature so far, spotted some otters and the number of times I have gotten lost per day is on a declining trend 📉🍃
April 4, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Very pleased to announce that on Monday I passed my PhD viva with no corrections! Big thank you to my supervisors Susan Page, Juan Carlos Berrio and Joerg Kaduk, and to the amazing Leicester PGR community. Special thank you to Kirsten Barrett and Michelle Pinard for such an enjoyable viva! 🍃
January 29, 2025 at 6:33 PM
So..I am currently in the process of packing up and moving house. Getting rid of trinkets / memorabilia / keepsakes etc is hard... But selling the house plants I’ve nurtured for almost 5 years. HEART BREAKING!
January 14, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Dr Maria B Mills
Interviewer: Can you explain this gap in your resume?

Forest ecologist: it was caused by a minor disturbance event.
Interviewer: Can you explain this gap in your resume?

Paleontologist: From the perspective of geologic time, there is no gap.
Interviewer: Can you explain this gap in your resume?

Journalist: it's called an em dash.
December 21, 2024 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Dr Maria B Mills
@ecosail.bsky.social’s new #riegl terrestrial laser scanner arrived, funded by the Arizona Board of Regents and the citizens of Arizona via the TRIF fund. With it we’ll push ecosystem science and autonomous sUAS systems + dual-use DoD ISR/SAR applications, and more. Reach out to collaborate!
December 20, 2024 at 5:09 AM
Reposted by Dr Maria B Mills
Great few days at #BES2024 in Liverpool last week! Wonderful to learn and connect with so many cool people. Looking back, I’d like to share the TOP 3 poster presentations I enjoyed best! Congrats on such great work:
@mariabmills.bsky.social
@alice-rosen.bsky.social @nicolaszurbuchen.bsky.social
December 18, 2024 at 6:07 PM
And she is done! Happy to have submitted my PhD thesis after 4 long years. Thank you to everyone who has helped along the way. Now time to sleep until Christmas 🎄
December 17, 2024 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Dr Maria B Mills
New paper out in @natureecoevo.bsky.social, led by Bruno Pinho, showing how human disruption is driving 'winner' and 'loser' #tree species shifts across tropical forests.
➡️ Fast-growing / small-seeded species dominating Brazilian forests were levels of deforestation and degradation are high.
[1/5]
December 15, 2024 at 1:50 PM
Had a wonderful time at #BES2024 seeing old friends and making new ones too. My last conference as a PhD student presenting my final research chapter! 🌿🗒️
December 13, 2024 at 8:52 PM