As a senior scientist at The Morton Arboretum, Christy Rollinson, PhD, conducts research on how trees interact with their environment and each other to grow and create healthy ecosystems.

Rollinson leads the Arboretum’s Forest Ecology Research Group, which studies the connections between individual trees and forest ecosystem dynamics in both natural and built environments, including how trees and plants interact with each other through time. The group’s research currently emphasizes describing and predicting the impacts of climate and environmental change on tree growth and survival using a wide range of approaches including citizen science, longterm observations, satellite data analysis, and computer modeling.

Rollinson works to develop long-term observation records and resources to further tree science research within and beyond The Morton Arboretum. In partnership with the USA National Phenology Network, she and the Forest Ecology Research Group monitor the timing of leaf, flower, and fruit development as well as fall color for hundreds of species found within the Arboretum’s taxonomic collections.

Rollinson is actively involved in communicating research findings to a range of audiences and applying findings to natural resources conservation, climate vulnerability assessment, and adaptation planning.

Rollinson also collaborates with the Arboretum’s Herbarium to develop and curate a wood collection suitable for a wide range of research, including dendrochronology, ecophysiology, and plant systematics.