E. Louise Loudermilk, PhD

Research Ecologist

Southern Research Station

eva.l.loudermilk@usda.gov

Publications & Products
Related
Education

Treesearch Publications

Niko J. Tutland, E. Louise Loudermilk, Zachary J. Robbins, Steve Flanagan, Adam L. Atchley, Zachary Cope. 2026. Integrating forest succession modeling and a physics-based fire behavior model to support long-term prescribed fire management
Steve Flanagan, Zachary J. Robbins, Mac A. Callaham, J. Kevin Hiers, Brian R. Miranda, Joseph J. O'Brien, Robert M. Scheller, E. Louise Loudermilk. 2026. The Rapid Initial Community Builder (RICB) V1.1 for LANDIS-II
Nuria Sánchez-López, Andrew T. Hudak, Mac A. Callaham, Melanie K. Taylor, Toni Viskari, Benjamin C. Bright, Seth Bigelow, Susan Prichard, E. Louise Loudermilk, Luigi Boschetti, Christie Hawley, Deborah Nemens. 2026. Coupling duff development with tree litter and downed fuel inputs, decomposition and fire consumption in a long-term prescribed fire experiment in Florida
Alexandra Noël, Chase K. Glenn, Omar El Hajj, Anita Anosike, Kruthika Kumar, Muhammad Isa Abdurrahman, Steven Flanagan, Mac A. Callaham, E. Louise Loudermilk, Elijah T. Roberts, Jonathan H. Choi, Bin Bai, Pengfei Liu, I. Jonathan Amster, Joseph J. O'Brien, Rawad Saleh. 2025. Differential In Vitro Lung Cell Toxicity of Fresh and Photochemically Aged Smoke Aerosol Emissions from Simulated Wildland Fires of Duff and Surface Fuels
Robert Penland, Steven Flanagan, Luke Ellison, Muhammad Abdurrahman, Chase K. Glenn, Omar El Hajj, Anita Anosike, Kruthika Kumar, Mac A. Callaham, E. Louise Loudermilk, Nakul N. Karle, Ricardo K. Sakai, Adrian Flores, Tilak Hewagam, Charles Ichoku, Joseph J. O'Brien, Rawad Saleh. 2025. The Effect of Combustion Conditions on Emissions of Elemental Carbon and Organic Carbon and Formation of Secondary Organic Carbon in Simulated Wildland Fires
C. Wade Ross, E. Louise Loudermilk, Steve Flanagan, Grant Snitker, J. Kevin Hiers, Joseph J. O'Brien. 2025. Wildfire Severity Reduction Through Prescribed Burning in the Southeastern United States
Juan Castorena, L.Turin Dickman, Adam Killebrew, James Gattiker, Rod Linn, E. Louise Loudermilk. 2025. ForestAlign: Automatic forest structure-based alignment for multi-view TLS and ALS point clouds
Benjamin C. Bright, Andrew T. Hudak, Nuria Sanchez-Lopez, E. Louise Loudermilk, Christie Hawley, Eric Rowell, Joseph J. O’Brien, Steven A. Flanagan, Kevin Robertson, Akira Kato, Chad Hoffman, David R. Weise, J. Kevin Hiers. 2025. Comparing biomass consumption estimated from point cloud data versus long-wave infrared imagery during prescribed growing season burns in pine woodlands of the southeastern United States
Leda N. Kobziar, J. Kevin Hiers, Claire M. Belcher, William J. Bond, Carolyn A. Enquist, E. Louise Loudermilk, Jessica R. Miesel, Joseph J. O'Brien, Juli G. Pausas, Sharon M. Hood, Robert E. Keane, Penelope Morgan, Melissa R. A. Pingree, Karin Riley, Hugh Safford, Francisco Seijo, J. Morgan Varner, Tamara Wall, Adam Watts. 2024. Principles of fire ecology
Seth W. Bigelow, J. Kevin Hiers, Scott Pokswinski, Douglas P. Aubrey, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien. 2024. Plant growth forms influence sandhill longleaf pine regeneration
C. Wade Ross, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien, Steve Flanagan, Grant Snitker, J. Kevin Hiers. 2024. Wildfire Severity to Valued Resources Mitigated by Prescribed Fire in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
C. Wade Ross, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien, Steve Flanagan, Jennifer McDaniel, Doug P. Aubrey, Tripp Lowe, J. Kevin Hiers, Nicholas Skowronski. 2024. Lidar-derived estimates of forest structure in response to fire frequency
Chase K. Glenn, Omar El Hajj, Zachary McQueen, Ryan P. Poland, Robert Penland, Elijah T. Roberts, Jonathan H. Choi, Bin Bai, Nara Shin, Anita Anosike, Kruthika V Kumar, Muhammad Isa Abdurrahman, Pengfei Liu, I. Jonathan Amster, Geoffrey D. Smith, Steve Flanagan, Mac A. Callaham, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien, Rawad Saleh. 2024. Brown Carbon Emissions from Biomass Burning under Simulated Wildfire and Prescribed-Fire Conditions
Mingrui Sun, Chase K. Glenn, Omar El Hajj, Kruthika V Kumar, Anita Anosike, Robert Penland, Mac A. Callaham, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O’Brien, Rawad Saleh, Geoffrey D. Smith. 2024. Aqueous Photolysis of Water-Soluble Brown Carbon from Simulated Prescribed and Wildfire Biomass Burning
Mary Murphy, E. Louise Loudermilk, Scott Pokswinski, Brett Williams, Emily Link, Laila Lienesch, Leta Douglas, Nicholas Skowronski, Michael R. Gallagher, Aaron Maxwell, Grant Snitker, Christie Hawley, Derek Wallace, Irenee Payne, Tim Yurkiewicz, Andrew .J. Sanchez Meador, Chad Anderson, J. Mark Jackson, Russell A. Parsons, Melissa Floca, Isaac Nealey, Ilkay Altintas, J. Kevin Hiers, Jon Wallace. 2024. Terrestrial 3D Laser Scanning for Ecosystem and Fire Effects Monitoring
E. Louise Loudermilk, Scott Pokswinski, Christie Hawley, Aaron Maxwell, Michael R. Gallagher, Nicholas Skowronski, Andrew T. Hudak, Chad Hoffman, John Kevin. Hiers. 2023. Terrestrial Laser Scan Metrics Predict Surface Vegetation Biomass and Consumption in a Frequently Burned Southeastern U.S. Ecosystem
Aaron E. Maxwell, Michael R. Gallagher, Natale Minicuci, Michelle S. Bester, E. Louise Loudermilk, Scott M. Pokswinski, Nicholas Skowronski. 2023. Impact of Reference Data Sampling Density for Estimating Plot-Level Average Shrub Heights Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning Data
Manuel Oviedo de la Fuente, Carlos Cabo, Javier Roca-Pardiñas, E. Louise Loudermilk, Celestino Ordóñez. 2023. 3D Point Cloud Semantic Segmentation Through Functional Data Analysis
Jenna S. McDanold, Rodman R. Linn, Alex K. Jonko, Adam L. Atchley, Scott Goodrick, J. Kevin Hiers, Chad M. Hoffman, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien, Russell A. Parsons, Carolyn H. Sieg, Julia A. Oliveto. 2023. DUET - Distribution of Understory using Elliptical Transport: A mechanistic model of leaf litter and herbaceous spatial distribution based on tree canopy structure
Alexandra K. Jonko, Rodman R. Linn, Ilkay Altintas, Adam L. Atchley, L. Turin Dickman, Andreas Bar, Adam D. Collins, Jean-Luc Dupuy, Michael R. Gallagher, J. Kevin Hiers, Chad M. Hoffman, Sharon M. Hood, Matthew D. Hurteau, W. Matt Jolly, Alexander Josephson, E. Louise Loudermilk, Wu Ma, Sean T. Michaletz, Rachael H. Nolan, Joseph J. O’Brien, Russell A. Parsons, Raquel Partelli-Feltrin, Francois Pimont, Vıctor Resco de Dios, Joseph Restaino, Zachary J. Robbins, Karla A. Sartor, Emily Schultz-Fellenz, Shawn P. Serbin, Sanna Sevanto, Jacquelyn K. Shuman, Carolyn H. Sieg, Nicholas Skowronski, David R. Weise, Molly Wright, Chonggang Xu, Marta Yebra, Nicolas Younes. 2023. Integrating plant physiology into simulation of fire behavior and effects
E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien, Scott Goodrick, Rodman R. Linn, Nicholas Skowronski, J. Kevin. Hiers. 2022. Vegetation’s influence on fire behavior goes beyond just being fuel
Scott Goodrick, Joseph J. O'Brien, E. Louise Loudermilk, Rod Linn, Ginny Marshall. 2022. Improving parameterization of combustion processes in coupled fire-atmosphere models through infrared remote sensing
Matthew Reilly, Steve P. Norman, Joseph J. O'Brien, E. Louise Loudermilk. 2022. Drivers and ecological impacts of a wildfire outbreak in the southern Appalachian Mountains after decades of fire exclusion
C.R. Traylor, Michael Ulyshen, D. Wallace, E. Louise Loudermilk, C.W. Ross, Christie Hawley, R.A. Atchison, J.L. Williams, J.V. McHugh. 2022. Compositional attributes of invaded forests drive the diversity of insect functional groups
C. Wade Ross, E. Louise Loudermilk, Nicholas Skowronski, Scott Pokswinski, J. Kevin Hiers, Joseph J. O'Brien. 2022. LiDAR Voxel-Size Optimization for Canopy Gap Estimation
Zachary J. Robbins, E. Louise Loudermilk, Matthew Reilly, Joseph J. O'Brien, Kate Jones, Christopher T. Gerstle, Robert M. Scheller. 2022. Delayed fire mortality has long‐term ecological effects across the Southern Appalachian landscape
Janice Peterson, Melanie C. Pitrolo, Donald W. Schweizer, Randy L. Striplin, Linda H. Geiser, Stephanie M. Holm, Julie D. Hunter, Jen M. Croft, Linda M. Chappell, Peter W. Lahm, Guadalupe Amezquita, Timothy J. Brown, Ricardo G. Cisneros, Stephanie Connolly, Jessica Halofsky, E. Louise Loudermilk, Kathleen M. Navarro, Andrea L. Nick, C. Trent Procter, Heather C. Provencio, Taro Pusina, Susan Lyon Stone, Leland Tarnay, Cynthia West. 2022. Resource Manager Perspectives on the Need for Smoke Science
Michael R. Gallagher, Aaron E. Maxwell, Luis Andrés Guillén, Alexis Everland, E. Louise Loudermilk, Nicholas Skowronski. 2021. Estimation of Plot-Level Burn Severity Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning
Quinn A. Hiers, E. Louise Loudermilk, Christie Hawley, J. Kevin Hiers, Scott Pokswinski, Chad M. Hoffman, Joseph J. O'Brien. 2021. Non-destructive fuel volume measurements can estimate fine-scale biomass across surface fuel types in a frequently burned ecosystem
Scott Pokwinski, Michael R. Gallagher, Nicholas Skowronski, E. Louise Loudermilk, Christie Hawley, Derek Wallace, Alexis Everland, Jon Wallace, J. Kevin Hiers. 2021. A simplified and affordable approach to forest monitoring using single terrestrial laser scans and transect sampling
Susan Prichard, Eric M. Rowell, Andrew T. Hudak, Robert E. Keane, E. Louise Loudermilk, Duncan C. Lutes, Roger D. Ottmar, Linda M. Chappell, John Hall, Benjamin S. Hornsby. 2020. Fuels and Consumption
Scott Pokswinski, Michael R. Gallagher, Nicholas Skowronski, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien, J. Kevin. Hiers. 2020. Diurnal pine bark structure dynamics affect properties relevant to firebrand generation
Dana Carpenter, Melanie K. Taylor, Mac A. Callaham, J. Kevin Hiers, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien, Nina Wurzburger. 2020. Benefit or Liability? The Ectomycorrhizal Association May Undermine Tree Adaptations to Fire After Long-term Fire Exclusion
Andrew T. Hudak, Akira Kato, Benjamin C. Bright, E. Louise Loudermilk, Christie Hawley, Joseph Restaino, Roger D. Ottmar, Gabriel A. Prata, Carlos Cabo, Susan J. Prichard, Eric M. Rowell, David R. Weise. 2020. Towards spatially explicit quantification of pre- and postfire fuels and fuel consumption from traditional and point cloud measurements
Eric Rowell, E. Louise Loudermilk, Christie Hawley, Scott Pokswinski, Carl Seielstad, LLoyd Queen, Joseph J. O'Brien, Andrew T. Hudak, Scott Goodrick, J. Kevin. Hiers. 2020. Coupling terrestrial laser scanning with 3D fuel biomass sampling for advancing wildland fuels characterization
J. Kevin Hiers, Joseph J. O'Brien, J. Morgan Varner, Bret W. Butler, Matthew B. Dickinson, James Furman, Michael R. Gallagher, David Godwin, Scott Goodrick, Sharon M. Hood, Andrew T. Hudak, Leda N. Kobziar, Rodman Linn, E. Louise Loudermilk, Sarah M. McCaffrey, Kevin Robertson, Eric M. Rowell, Nicholas Skowronski, Adam C. Watts, Kara Yedinak. 2020. Prescribed fire science: the case for a refined research agenda
D. J. Krofcheck, E. Louise Loudermilk, J. K. Hiers, R. M. Scheller, M. D. Hurteau. 2019. The effects of management on long‐term carbon stability in a southeastern U.S. forest matrix under extreme fire weather
E. Louise Loudermilk, Lee Dyer, Scott Pokswinski, Andrew T. Hudak, Ben Hornsby, Lora Richards, Jane Dell, Scott Goodrick, J. Kevin Hiers, Joseph J. O'Brien. 2019. Simulating groundcover community assembly in a frequently burned ecosystem using a simple neutral model
Steven A. Flanagan, Smriti Bhotika, Christie Hawley, Gregory Starr, Susanne Wiesner, J. Kevin Hiers, Joseph J. O'Brien, Scott Goodrick, Mac A. Callaham, Robert M. Scheller, Kier D. Klepzig, R. Scott Taylor, E. Louise Loudermilk. 2019. Quantifying carbon and species dynamics under different fire regimes in a southeastern U.S. pineland
Jane E. Dell, Danielle M. Salcido, Will Lumpkin, Lora A. Richards, Scott M. Pokswinski, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien, Lee A. Dyer. 2019. Interaction diversity maintains resiliency in a frequently disturbed ecosystem
Jane E. Dell, Scott M. Pokswinski, Lora A. Richards, J. Kevin Hiers, Brett Williams, Joseph J. O’Brien, E. Louise Loudermilk, Andrew T. Hudak, Lee A. Dyer. 2019. Maximizing the monitoring of diversity for management activities: Additive partitioning of plant species diversity across a frequently burned ecosystem
Joseph J. O'Brien, J. K. Hiers, J. M. Varner, C. M. Hoffman, Matthew B. Dickinson, S. T. Michaletz, E. Louise Loudermilk, Bret W. Butler. 2018. Advances in Mechanistic Approaches to Quantifying Biophysical Fire Effects
Christie M. Hawley, E. Louise Loudermilk, Eric M. Rowell, Scott Pokswinski. 2018. A novel approach to fuel biomass sampling for 3D fuel characterization
David R. Weise, Thomas H. Fletcher, Timothy J. Johnson, WeiMin M. Hao, Mark A. Dietenberger, Marko Princevac, Bret W. Butler, Sara S. McAllister, Joseph J. O'Brien, E. Louise Loudermilk, Roger D. Ottmar, Andrew T. Hudak, Akira Kato, Babak Shotorban, Shankar Mahalingam, William E. Mell. 2018. A project to measure and model pyrolysis to improve prediction of prescribed fire behavior
Robert M. Scheller, Alec M. Kretchun, E. Louise Loudermilk, Matthew D. Hurteau, Peter J. Weisberg, Carl N. Skinner. 2018. Interactions among fuel management, species composition, bark beetles, and climate change and the potential effects on forests of the Lake Tahoe Basin
E. Louise Loudermilk, J. Kevin Hiers, Joseph J. O'Brien. 2018. The role of fuels for understanding fire behavior and fire effects
E. Louise Loudermilk, R. M. Scheller, P. J. Weisberg, Alec Kretchun. 2017. Bending the carbon curve: fire management for carbon resilience under climate change
Daniel J. Krofcheck, Matthew D. Hurteau, Robert M. Scheller, E. Louise Loudermilk. 2017. Prioritizing forest fuels treatments based on the probability of high-severity fire restores adaptive capacity in Sierran forests
Jane E. Dell, Lora A. Richards, Joseph J. O'Brien, E. Louise Loudermilk, Andrew T. Hudak, Scott M. Pokswinski, Benjamin C. Bright, J. Kevin Hiers, Brett W. Williams, Lee A. Dyer. 2017. Overstory-derived surface fuels mediate plant species diversity in frequently burned longleaf pine forests
Daniel J. Krofcheck, Matthew D. Hurteau, Robert M. Scheller, E. Louise Loudermilk. 2017. Restoring surface fire stabilizes forest carbon under extreme fire weather in the Sierra Nevada
Bret W. Butler, C. Teske, Dan M. Jimenez, Joseph J. O'Brien, Paul A. Sopko, Cyle E. Wold, Mark G. Vosburgh, Ben Hornsby, E. Louise Loudermilk. 2016. Observations of energy transport and rate of spreads from low-intensity fires in longleaf pine habitat-RxCADRE 2012
Andrew T. Hudak, Matthew B. Dickinson, Benjamin C. Bright, Robert L. Kremens, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien, Ben Hornsby, Roger D. Ottmar. 2016. Measurements relating fire radiative energy density and surface fuel consumption - RxCADRE 2011 and 2012
Andrew T. Hudak, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joanne C. White. 2016. Introduction to special issue on remote sensing for advanced forest inventory
Benjamin C. Bright, E. Louise Loudermilk, Scott M. Pokswinski, Andrew T. Hudak, Joseph J. O'Brien. 2016. Introducing close-range photogrammetry for characterizing forest understory plant diversity and surface fuel structure at fine scales
E. Louise Loudermilk, J. Kevin Hiers, Scott Pokswinski, Joseph J. O'Brien, Analie Barnett, Robert J. Mitchell. 2016. The path back: oaks ( Quercus spp.) facilitate longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris ) seedling establishment in xeric sites
Eric Rowell, E. Louise Loudermilk, Carl Seielstad, Joseph J. O'Brien. 2016. Using simulated 3D surface fuelbeds and terrestrial laser scan data to develop inputs to fire behavior models
Carlos A. Silva, Andrew T. Hudak, Lee A. Vierling, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien, J. Kevin Hiers, Steve B. Jack, Carlos Gonzalez-Benecke, Heezin Lee, Michael J. Falkowski, Anahita Khosravipour. 2016. Imputation of individual longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) tree attributes from field and LiDAR data
Andrew T. Hudak, Benjamin C. Bright, Scott M. Pokswinski, E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien, Ben Hornsby, Carine Klauberg, Carlos A. Silva. 2016. Mapping forest structure and composition from low-density LiDAR for informed forest, fuel, and fire management at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, USA
Joseph J. O'Brien, E. Louise Loudermilk, J. Kevin Hiers, Scott Pokswinski, Benjamin Hornsby, Andrew T. Hudak, Dexter Strother, Eric Rowell, Benjamin C. Bright. 2016. Canopy-derived fuels drive patterns of in-fire energy release and understory plant mortality in a longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris ) sandhill in northwest Florida, USA
Kevin R. Butt, Mac A. Callaham, E. Louise Loudermilk, Rowan Blaik. 2016. Action of earthworms on flint burial - a return to Darwin's estate
Alec M. Kretchun, E. Louise Loudermilk, Robert M. Scheller, Matthew D. Hurteau, Soumaya Belmecheri. 2016. Climate and bark beetle effects on forest productivity -- linking dendroecology with forest landscape modeling
Audrey L. Mayer, Brian Buma, Am??lie Davis, Sara A. Gagn??, E. Louise Loudermilk, Robert M. Scheller, Fiona K.A. Schmiegelow, Yolanda F. Wiersma, Janet Franklin. 2016. How landscape ecology informs global land-change science and policy
Joseph J. O’Brien, E. Louise Loudermilk, Benjamin Hornsby, Andrew T. Hudak, Benjamin C. Bright, Matthew B. Dickinson, J. Kevin Hiers, Casey Teske, Roger D. Ottmar. 2016. High-resolution infrared thermography for capturing wildland fire behaviour - RxCADRE 2012
Matthew B. Dickinson, Andrew T. Hudak, Thomas Zajkowski, E. Louise Loudermilk, Wilfrid Schroeder, Luke Ellison, Robert L. Kremens, William Holley, Otto Martinez, Alexander Paxton, Benjamin C. Bright, Joseph J. O'Brien, Ben Hornsby, Charles Ichoku, Jason Faulring, Aaron Gerace, David L. Peterson, Joseph Mauceri. 2016. Measuring radiant emissions from entire prescribed fires with ground, airborne and satellite sensors - RxCADRE 2012
Jian Yang, Peter J. Weisberg, Thomas E. Dilts, E. Louise Loudermilk, Robert M. Scheller, Alison Stanton, Carl N. Skinner. 2015. Predicting wildfire occurrence distribution with spatial point process models and its uncertainty assessment: a case study in the Lake Tahoe Basin, USA
E. Louise Loudermilk, Gary L. Achtemeier, Joseph J. O'Brien, J. Kevin Hiers, Benjamin S. Hornsby. 2014. High-resolution observations of combustion in heterogeneous surface fuels
Jeffery B. Cannon, Joseph J. O'Brien, E. Louise Loudermilk, Matthew B. Dickinson, Chris J. Peterson. 2014. The influence of experimental wind disturbance on forest fuels and fire characteristics
E. Louise Loudermilk, Alison Stanton, Robert M. Scheller, Thomas E. Dilts, Peter J. Weisberg, Carl N. Skinner, Jian Yang. 2014. Effectiveness of fuel treatments for mitigating wildfire risk and sequestering forest carbon: a case study in the Lake Tahoe Basin
E. Louise Loudermilk, Robert Scheller, Peter Weisberg, Jian Yang, Thomas Dilts, Sarah Karam, Carl N. Skinner. 2013. Carbon dynamics in the future forest: the importance of long-term successional legacy and climate–fire interactions
E. Louise Loudermilk, Joseph J. O'Brien, RJ Mitchell, JK Hiers, WP Cropper, S Grunwald, J Grego, J Fernandez. 2012. Linking complex forest fuel structure and fire behavior at fine scales
E. Louise Loudermilk, J.K. Hiers, J.J. O’Brien, R.J. Mitchell, A. Singhania, J.C. Fernandez, W.P. Cropper, K.C. Slatton. 2009. Ground-based LIDAR: a novel approach to quantify fine-scale fuelbed characteristics
J. Kevin Hiers, Joseph J. O'Brien, R. J. Mitchell, John M. Grego, E. Louise Loudermilk. 2009. The wildland fuel cell concept: an approach to characterize fine-scale variation in fuels and fire in frequently burned longleaf pine forests
E. Louise Loudermilk, Abhinav Singhania, Juan C. Fernandez, J. Kevin Hiers, Joseph J. O'Brien, Wendell P. Cropper Jr., K. Clint Slatton, Robert J. Mitchell. 2007. Application of ground-based LIDAR for fine-scale forest fuel modeling