Lynn F. Fenstermaker

Associate Research Professor and Director, Nevada Desert Research Center

Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences

Email: Lynn.Fenstermaker@dri.edu

Education

Professional Interests

Dr. Fenstermaker has experience and interests in the use of remotely sensed data to map, monitor, and assess the effect of environmental stressors on vegetation at small and large scales. As Director of the Nevada Desert Research Center, Dr. Fenstermaker oversees the operations of both the Nevada Desert FACE (Free Air CO2 Enrichment) Facility (NDFF) and the Mojave Global Change Facility (MGCF). Both of these efforts are a component of the Nevada Global Change program, which is a collaborative effort among DRI, UNLV and UNR. Her Ph.D. research focused on developing methodologies to scale leaf and canopy level measurements, such as evapotranspiration, to plant community and ecosytem levels with the aid of remotely sensed data. Other areas of research have focused on the use of remote sensing to map land use/land cover, monitor environmental status and trends, and the development of quality assurance/quality control procedures for spatial data.

Research Areas

Selected Publications

Dr. Fenstermaker has authored or co-authored 40+ publications and technical reports. A selection of recent publications include:

Wohlfahrt, G., L.F. Fenstermaker and JA Arnone III, 2008:

Large annual net ecosystem CO2 uptake of a Mojave Desert ecosystem. Global Change Biology, 14:1475-1487.

Devitt, DA, R.L. Morris, M. Baghzouz, M. Lockett, L.K. Fenstermaker, 2005:

Water quality changes in golf course irrigation ponds transitioning to reuse. Hort Science, 40(7): 2151-2156.

Devitt, D.A., R.L. Morris, L.F. Fenstermaker, M. Baghzouz and D.S. Neuman, 2005:

Foliar Damage and Flower Production of Landscape Plants Sprinkle Irrigated with Reuse Water. Hort Science, 40(6):1871-1878.

Devitt, D.A., R.L. Morris, and L.F. Fenstermaker, 2005:

Foliar Damage, Spectral Reflectance and Tissue Ion Concentrations of Trees Sprinkle Irrigated with Waters of Similar Salinity but Different Chemical Composition. Hort Science, 40(3):819-826.

Fenstermaker, L.K., T. N. Charlet, T.E. Huxman, J.S. Coleman, R.S. Nowak, and S.D. Smith, 2002:

Global Climate Change Research in the Nevada Desert. Pages 97-106 in D.A.Charlet (editor). Nevada Environmental Issues, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, IA.

Stanley D. Smith, Travis E. Huxman, Stephen F. Zitzer, Therese N. Charlet, David C. Housman, James S. Coleman,

Lynn K. Fenstermaker, Jeffrey R. Seemann, and Robert S. Nowak, 2000: Elevated CO2 Increases Productivity and Invasive Species Success in an Arid Ecosystem. Nature 408:79-82.

McGwire, K., T. Minor and L. Fenstermaker, 2000:

Hyperspectral Mixture Modeling for Quantifying Sparse Vegetation Cover in Arid Environments. Remote Sensing of Environment 72(3):360-374.

Fenstermaker, L.K., D.A. Devitt, D.E. Pataki, and S.D. Smith, 1999:

Spatial Variations in Evapotranspiration of a Riparian Tamarix Community. Abstracts, The Ecological Society of America, 84th Annual Meeting. August 8-12, 1999, Spokane WA, p. 249.

Gamon J.A., L.K. Fenstermaker, and D.A. Sims, 1999:

Optical detection of early CO2 treatment effects at the Nevada Desert FACE Facility. Ecological Society of America, Annual Meeting, Spokane WA.

Devitt, D.A., A. Sala, S.D. Smith, J.A. Cleverly, L.K. Shaulis, and R. Hammett, 1998:

Bowen Ratio Estimates of evapotranspiration for Tamarix ramosissima stands on the Virgin River in southern Nevada. Water Resources Research 34(9):2407-2414.

Fenstermaker-Shaulis, L.K., A. Lesky, and D. Devitt, 1997:

Utilization of Remotely Sensed Data to Map and Evaluate Turfgrass Stress Associated with Drought. Journal of Turfgrass Management 2(1):65-81.

Fenstermaker, L.K. and J.R. Miller, 1994:

Identification of Fluvially-Redistributed Mill Tailings Using High Spectral Resolution Aircraft Data. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 60(8):989-995.

Lunetta, R.S., R.G. Congalton, L.K. Fenstermaker, J.R. Jensen, K.C. McGwire, and L.R. Tinney, 1991:

Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System Data Integration: Error Sources and Research Issues. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 57(6):677-687.