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Dr. Cheryl L Doughty

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Dr. Cheryl L Doughty

  • POST DOC
  • 267.614.8115
  • NASA/GSFC
  • Mail Code: 618
  • Greenbelt , MD 20771
  • Employer: NPP POST-DOC CONTRACT

    • Brief Bio

    Cheryl is a NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center working with Dr. Lola Fatoyinbo. She uses remote sensing to study how coastal salt marsh and mangrove ecosystems are responding to climate change. Her research interests lie at the intersection of coastal wetland ecology and remote sensing, where she seeks answers to questions about how these valuable ecosystems are changing using Earth observation data. 

    For her MS in Biology from Villanova University, she studied how mangrove expansion into saltmarshes driven by a warming climate increased carbon storage and coastal protection in the wetlands surrounding NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. For her PhD in Geography from UCLA, she used optical imagery from drones and satellites to map saltmarsh biomass and monitor the past 35 years of change in the urban, and SLR-threatened, wetlands of Southern California. During this project, she also worked directly with regional management efforts to develop a SLR response model to predict future habitat losses and provide quantifiable objectives for regional adaptation planning. 

    Her current research focus is high-resolution mapping in dynamic, climate-sensitive ecotones where tropical mangroves meet temperate salt marshes in order to capture changes in mangrove extent and structure that have implications for Blue Carbon. The goals for her NPP project include high-resolution mapping of mangroves and saltmarshes in ecotones worldwide using WorldView and Sentinel data, detecting changes in mangrove extents and canopy heights and the implication to blue carbon, and finding hotspots of saltmarsh-mangrove ecotone change and determining the climatic factors driving it.

    Research Interests

    Coastal Wetland Ecology

    Mangroves

    Saltmarshes

    Blue Carbon

    Remote Sensing

    Ecosystem Services

    Current Projects

    Elucidating changes and drivers to mangrove extents and heights at range limits for an improved global understanding of blue carbon

    Positions/Employment

    1/2021 - Present

    NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow

    USRA, Goddard Space Flight Center

    Education

    PhD in Geography, University of California, Los Angeles CA

    MS in Biology, Villanova University, Villanova PA

    BS in Biology with Distinction and Honors, Temple University, Philadelphia PA

    Selected Publications

    Refereed

    Doughty, C. L., R. F. Ambrose, G. S. Okin, and K. C. Cavanaugh. 2021. "Characterizing spatial variability in coastal wetland biomass across multiple scales using UAV and satellite imagery." Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, [10.1002/rse2.198]

    Stein, E. D., C. L. Doughty, J. Lowe, et al. M. Cooper, E. B. Sloane, and D. L. Bram. 2020. "Establishing Targets for Regional Coastal Wetland Restoration Planning Using Historical Ecology and Future Scenario Analysis: The Past, Present, Future Approach." Estuaries and Coasts, 43 (2): 207-222 [10.1007/s12237-019-00681-4]

    Cavanaugh, K. C., E. M. Dangremond, C. L. Doughty, et al. A. P. Williams, J. D. Parker, M. A. Hayes, W. Rodriguez, and I. C. Feller. 2019. "Climate-driven regime shifts in a mangrove–salt marsh ecotone over the past 250 years." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 (43): 21602-21608 [10.1073/pnas.1902181116]

    Doughty, C., and K. Cavanaugh. 2019. "Mapping Coastal Wetland Biomass from High Resolution Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Imagery." Remote Sensing, 11 (5): 540 [10.3390/rs11050540]

    Doughty, C. L., K. C. Cavanaugh, R. F. Ambrose, and E. D. Stein. 2018. "Evaluating regional resiliency of coastal wetlands to sea level rise through hypsometry‐based modeling." Global Change Biology, 25 (1): 78-92 [10.1111/gcb.14429]

    Kelleway, J. J., K. Cavanaugh, K. Rogers, et al. I. C. Feller, E. Ens, C. Doughty, and N. Saintilan. 2017. "Review of the ecosystem service implications of mangrove encroachment into salt marshes." Global Change Biology, 23 (10): 3967-3983 [10.1111/gcb.13727]

    Doughty, C. L., K. C. Cavanaugh, C. R. Hall, I. C. Feller, and S. K. Chapman. 2017. "Impacts of mangrove encroachment and mosquito impoundment management on coastal protection services." Hydrobiologia, 803 (1): 105-120 [10.1007/s10750-017-3225-0]

    Doughty, C. L., J. A. Langley, W. S. Walker, et al. I. C. Feller, R. Schaub, and S. K. Chapman. 2015. "Mangrove Range Expansion Rapidly Increases Coastal Wetland Carbon Storage." Estuaries and Coasts, 39 (2): 385-396 [10.1007/s12237-015-9993-8]

    Quattrini, A. M., P. J. Etnoyer, C. Doughty, et al. L. English, R. Falco, N. Remon, M. Rittinghouse, and E. E. Cordes. 2014. "A phylogenetic approach to octocoral community structure in the deep Gulf of Mexico." Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 99: 92-102 [10.1016/j.dsr2.2013.05.027]

    Doughty, C. L., A. M. Quattrini, and E. E. Cordes. 2014. "Insights into the population dynamics of the deep-sea coral genus Paramuricea in the Gulf of Mexico." Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 99: 71-82 [10.1016/j.dsr2.2013.05.023]

    Awards

    The Wetland Foundation Travel Grant, 2018

    Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society Field Study Grant, 2017

    Student Travel Award, Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation, 2015

    USC Sea Grant Traineeship, University of Southern California, Dornsife, 2015 - 2017

    Link Fellowship, Smithsonian Institution, 2014

    Rachel Carson Memorial Award, Temple University, 2013

    Teaching Experience

    Teaching Assistant. Advanced Remote Sensing (GEOG 174). Spring 2020, UCLA

    Teaching Assistant. World Vegetation (GEOG 108). Winter 2020, UCLA

    Teaching Assistant. World Vegetation (GEOG 108). Winter 2019, UCLA

    Mentor. Undergraduate Directed Study (GEOG 199). Spring 2018, UCLA

    Teaching Assistant. People, Places & the Environment (GEOG 5). Spring 2017, UCLA

    Teaching Assistant. People, Places & the Environment (GEOG 5). Fall 2016, UCLA

    Teaching Assistant. General Biology I Lab (BIO 2102). Fall 2013, Villanova University

    Teaching Assistant. General Biology II Lab (BIO 2104). Spring 2013, Villanova University

    Professional Societies

    Ecological Society of America, 2013 - Present
    Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation, 2015 - Present

    Selected Public Outreach

    “Bolsa Chica Site Exemplifies Need to Protect California's Wetlands.” Spectrum 1 News, Christopher Gee. 12 / 2018 - 2018
    https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/environment/2018/12/27/bolsa-chica-wetlands-is-microcosm-for-how-climate-change-impacts-california
    “New hope for Southern California’s besieged wetlands.” UCLA Newsroom, David Colgan. 11 / 2018 - 2018
    https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/new-hope-for-southern-californias-besieged-wetlands
    “Walking trees terrorize marshes.” Hakai Magazine, Asher Elbein. 7 / 2017 - 2017
    https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/walking-trees-terrorize-marshes/
    “Could mangrove northern expansion temper global warming?” Florida Today, Jim Wayner. 1 / 2017 - 2017
    https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2017/01/14/could-mangrove-northern-expansion-temper-global-warming/94736686/

    Brief Bio

    Cheryl is a NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center working with Dr. Lola Fatoyinbo. She uses remote sensing to study how coastal salt marsh and mangrove ecosystems are responding to climate change. Her research interests lie at the intersection of coastal wetland ecology and remote sensing, where she seeks answers to questions about how these valuable ecosystems are changing using Earth observation data. 

    For her MS in Biology from Villanova University, she studied how mangrove expansion into saltmarshes driven by a warming climate increased carbon storage and coastal protection in the wetlands surrounding NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. For her PhD in Geography from UCLA, she used optical imagery from drones and satellites to map saltmarsh biomass and monitor the past 35 years of change in the urban, and SLR-threatened, wetlands of Southern California. During this project, she also worked directly with regional management efforts to develop a SLR response model to predict future habitat losses and provide quantifiable objectives for regional adaptation planning. 

    Her current research focus is high-resolution mapping in dynamic, climate-sensitive ecotones where tropical mangroves meet temperate salt marshes in order to capture changes in mangrove extent and structure that have implications for Blue Carbon. The goals for her NPP project include high-resolution mapping of mangroves and saltmarshes in ecotones worldwide using WorldView and Sentinel data, detecting changes in mangrove extents and canopy heights and the implication to blue carbon, and finding hotspots of saltmarsh-mangrove ecotone change and determining the climatic factors driving it.

    Selected Publications

    Refereed

    Doughty, C. L., R. F. Ambrose, G. S. Okin, and K. C. Cavanaugh. 2021. "Characterizing spatial variability in coastal wetland biomass across multiple scales using UAV and satellite imagery." Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation [10.1002/rse2.198]

    Stein, E. D., C. L. Doughty, J. Lowe, et al. M. Cooper, E. B. Sloane, and D. L. Bram. 2020. "Establishing Targets for Regional Coastal Wetland Restoration Planning Using Historical Ecology and Future Scenario Analysis: The Past, Present, Future Approach." Estuaries and Coasts 43 (2): 207-222 [10.1007/s12237-019-00681-4]

    Cavanaugh, K. C., E. M. Dangremond, C. L. Doughty, et al. A. P. Williams, J. D. Parker, M. A. Hayes, W. Rodriguez, and I. C. Feller. 2019. "Climate-driven regime shifts in a mangrove–salt marsh ecotone over the past 250 years." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116 (43): 21602-21608 [10.1073/pnas.1902181116]

    Doughty, C., and K. Cavanaugh. 2019. "Mapping Coastal Wetland Biomass from High Resolution Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Imagery." Remote Sensing 11 (5): 540 [10.3390/rs11050540]

    Doughty, C. L., K. C. Cavanaugh, R. F. Ambrose, and E. D. Stein. 2018. "Evaluating regional resiliency of coastal wetlands to sea level rise through hypsometry‐based modeling." Global Change Biology 25 (1): 78-92 [10.1111/gcb.14429]

    Kelleway, J. J., K. Cavanaugh, K. Rogers, et al. I. C. Feller, E. Ens, C. Doughty, and N. Saintilan. 2017. "Review of the ecosystem service implications of mangrove encroachment into salt marshes." Global Change Biology 23 (10): 3967-3983 [10.1111/gcb.13727]

    Doughty, C. L., K. C. Cavanaugh, C. R. Hall, I. C. Feller, and S. K. Chapman. 2017. "Impacts of mangrove encroachment and mosquito impoundment management on coastal protection services." Hydrobiologia 803 (1): 105-120 [10.1007/s10750-017-3225-0]

    Doughty, C. L., J. A. Langley, W. S. Walker, et al. I. C. Feller, R. Schaub, and S. K. Chapman. 2015. "Mangrove Range Expansion Rapidly Increases Coastal Wetland Carbon Storage." Estuaries and Coasts 39 (2): 385-396 [10.1007/s12237-015-9993-8]

    Quattrini, A. M., P. J. Etnoyer, C. Doughty, et al. L. English, R. Falco, N. Remon, M. Rittinghouse, and E. E. Cordes. 2014. "A phylogenetic approach to octocoral community structure in the deep Gulf of Mexico." Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 99 92-102 [10.1016/j.dsr2.2013.05.027]

    Doughty, C. L., A. M. Quattrini, and E. E. Cordes. 2014. "Insights into the population dynamics of the deep-sea coral genus Paramuricea in the Gulf of Mexico." Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 99 71-82 [10.1016/j.dsr2.2013.05.023]

                                                                                                                                                                                            
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    • Last Updated: 05/20/2022