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Department of

Earth & Environmental Sciences

Michelle Spicer, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at Lehigh University

Michelle Spicer

Assistant Professor

610.758.5175
mes412@lehigh.edu
Education:

B.S. Integrated Degree in Engineering, Arts & Sciences (IDEAS), Lehigh University '12

M.S. Earth & Environmental Engineering, Lehigh University '14G

PhD Biological Sciences; Graduate Certificate in Latin American Studies, University of Pittsburgh '19G

NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology, University of Puget Sound (2020-2021)

NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology, Yale University (2021-2023)

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Research Areas

Additional Interests

  • Forest Ecology

Biography

Dr. Michelle Elise Spicer is a plant community ecologist who works primarily in forested ecosystems. Her research broadly focuses on understanding: 1) the distribution and drivers of plant diversity across the globe; 2) the ecology and evolution of epiphytic (canopy) plants; and 3) how natural and anthropogenic disturbances change community dynamics and resilience.

When not climbing trees or traveling for research, Michelle also enjoys singing, baking, and spending time with her friends, family, and beloved houseplants.

Published Articles

Undergraduate/post-bac coauthors are underlined; graduate student mentees are marked with a carat^

17. Nair Radhamoni HV, Spicer ME, Duguid M, Comita LS, …, Queenborough SA. “One hundred fundamental questions about understory herbaceous plants in forest ecosystems.” 2026. Journal of Vegetation Science.37(4):e70168. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.70168

16. McKenzie C^, Ortega J, Comita L, & Spicer ME. “Vertical distribution and survival of epiphytes in a Neotropical premontane cloud forest.” 2026. Plant Ecology and Diversity:1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2026.2662598.

15. Humphreys LR, Lucas J, & Spicer ME. “Canopy height and epiphytic bryophytes shape fungal communities in a temperate rainforest.” 2025. Ecology and Evolution. 15(10):e72241. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72241.

14. Yancy AJ, Lee BR,  Kuebbing SE, Neufeld HS, Spicer ME, & Heberling JM. “Evaluating the definition and distribution of spring ephemeral wildflowers in eastern North America.” 2024. American Journal of Botany, 111, e16323. PDF.

13. Spicer ME & Ortega J. “Source height and contact with terrestrial soil drive transplanted epiphyte performance.” 2023. Journal of Ecology: 111, 2388-2400. PDF.

12. Spicer ME, Royo AA, Wenzel JW, & Carson WP. “Understory plant growth forms respond independently to combined natural and anthropogenic disturbances.” 2023. Forest Ecology and Management: 543(121077). PDF.

​11. Spicer ME, Ortega J, & Carson WP. “Substrate texture and natural removal processes mediate vascular epiphyte establishment: experimental evidence from a Panamanian cloud forest.” 2022. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society: 149(1), 86-97. https://doi.org/10.3159/TORREY-D-21-00038.1 PDF.

10. Spicer ME & Woods CL. “A case for studying biotic interactions in epiphyte ecology and evolution.” 2022. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics (54): 125658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2021.125658 PDF.

9. Spicer ME, Radhamoni HVN, Duguid MC, Queenborough SA, Comita LS. “Herbaceous plant diversity in forest ecosystems: Patterns, mechanisms, and threats.” 2021. Plant Ecology: 223, 117-129. doi:10.1007/s11258-021-01202-9 PDF.

8. Echeverri SA, Miller AE, *Chen J, McQueen EW, Plakke M, Spicer M, Hoke KL, Stoddard MC, Morehouse NI. “How signaling geometry shapes the efficacy and evolution of animal communication systems.”  2021. Integrative and Comparative Biology:61(3), 787-813. doi:10.1093/icb/icab090 PDF.

7. Spicer ME, *Mellor H, & Carson WP. “Seeing beyond the trees: a comparison of tropical and temperate plant growth forms and their vertical distribution.” 2020. Ecology: 101(4). DOI:10.1002/ecy.2974 PDF.

6. Slyder JB, Wenzel J, Royo AA, Spicer ME, & Carson WP. “Post-windthrow salvage logging increases seedling and understory diversity with little impact on composition immediately after logging.” 2019. New Forests: 1-12. PDF.

5. Spicer ME, Keiser CN, & Pruitt JN. “Spiders, microbes, and sex: Bacterial exposure on copulatory organs alters mating behaviour in funnel-web spiders.” 2019.  Ethology: 125(10), 677-685. PDF.

4. Spicer ME, *Suess KF, Wenzel JW, & Carson WP.  “Does salvage logging erase a key physical legacy of a tornado blowdown? A case study of tree-tip-up mounds.” 2018. Canadian Journal of Forest Research: 48, 976-982. PDF.

3. Pruitt JN, Howell KA, Gladney SJ, Yang Y, Lichtenstein JLL, Spicer ME, Echeverri SA, & Pinter-Wollman N. 2017. “Behavioral hypervolumes of predator groups and predator-predator interactions shape prey survival rates and selection on prey behavior.” The American Naturalist: 189(3). PDF.

2. Spicer ME, Stark AY, Adams BJ, *Kneale R, Kaspari M, & Yanoviak SP. 2017. “Thermal constraints on foraging of tropical canopy ants.” Oecologia: 183 (4). PDF.

1. Keturakis CJ, Ni F, Spicer M, Beaver MG, Caram HS, & Wachs IE. 2014. “Monitoring Solid Oxide CO2 Capture Sorbents in Action.”ChemSusChem: 7(12), 3459-3466. PDF.
 

Teaching

Current offerings: 

EES 025: Observing and Studying Nature

EES 250: Forest Ecology and Laboratory

EES 387: Sustainability in Latin America

EES 498: Advanced Community Ecology