James D. Shaffer

BIOGRAPHY

James D. Shaffer, Assistant Professor of Biology, is an ecologist interested in the function of ecological communities and ecosystems, with an overarching goal to better inform restoration practices in human impacted systems. His current research focuses on the ecology of the unique, and globally imperiled, Kentucky Bluegrass Savanna-Woodland. He uses a combination of experimental and observational field techniques to study the ecological filters (e.g., fire, herbivory, competition) that influence plant community succession and adaptive plant traits. 

Similarly, Dr. Shaffer has researched climate change influences on tree range expansion using assisted migration; impacts of land-use change on water quality along the urban-rural gradient; tree population declines resulting from introduced invasive insects; and tree seedling ecophysiology under different forest management practices. This work has led him to maritime forests on the barrier islands of the Atlantic coast, the streams and forests of the Cumberland Plateau and Appalachian Mountains, and the North Woods of Maine. 

He joined the Centre College faculty in 2025 after earning degrees from Sewanee: The University of the South (B.S. in Ecology & Biodiversity) and the University of Kentucky (M.S. and Ph.D. in Biology).

AFFILIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

• Ecological Society of America (ESA)
• The Wildlife Society (TWS)

PUBLICATIONS

Westneat, D.F., Potts, L.J., Sasser, K.L., and Shaffer, J.D. 2019. Causes and consequences of phenotypic plasticity in complex environments. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 34(6): 555-568. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2019.02.010