Costal Ecology

Education

• Ph.D., Integrative Life Sciences (2008), Virginia Commonwealth University
• M.S., Biology (2004), Virginia Commonwealth University
• B.S., Biology (2001), Virginia Commonwealth University

Research Interests

• Coastal ecology
• Dune ecology
• Woody encroachment
• Plant-environment interactions
• Climate change
• Remote sensing

Select Publications

• Riffe EC, Zinnert JC, Moore LJ, Sabo AB, Castorani MCN, Cornish M, Burkett T. 2026. Dominant dune grass traits affect embryonic dune morphometrics Ecosphere 17(7): e70711.

• White AE, Cohn N, Davis EH, Hein CJ, Zinnert JC. 2024. Coastal dune management affects above and belowground biotic characteristics. Scientific Reports Special Issue: Coastal Ecology 14:22688

• Wood LK, Young DR, Zinnert JC. 2024. Shrub age and water dynamics influence primary productivity, carbon, and nitrogen stocks in a coastal environment. Wetlands 44: 26.

• Zinnert J.C., Via, S.M, Nettleton B.P., Tuley, P.A., Moore, L.J., and J.A. Stallins. 2019. Connectivity in coastal systems: barrier island vegetation influences upland migration in a changing climate. Global Change Biology 25: 2419-2430.

• Zinnert, J.C., Stallins, J.A., Brantley, S.T. and D.R. Young. 2017. Crossing scales: complexity of barrier island processes for predicting future change. Bioscience, 67:39-52.

Google Scholar profile

Courses

• BIOL 322: Economic Botany
• BIOL 475: Capstone Seminar
• BIOL 511: Coastal Ecology
• BIOL 606: Quantitative Ecology