Publications + Presentations

Link to full CV here

Recent Publications

Poulton Kamakura, R., Kazanski, C. E., Shapiro-Garza, E., Clark, J. S., Ciccone, L., Laquidara, L. M., & Holmes, R. V. (2026). Gentrification and urban forest structure and stress: Lessons from two cities. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 117, 129257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2025.129257

Poulton Kamakura, R. Schueller, C., Wofford, B., Kazanzki, C.E., Hallett, R., Hauer, R., Holmes, R.V. (2025) Socio-ecological context and tree care for street and park trees in urban and suburban areas. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 114, 129121 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2025.129121

Poulton Kamakura, R. & Simoniello, C. (2025). Marine Heatwave Impact Reports/Informes Breves Sobre los Impactos de las Olas de Calor Marinas. White Papers. Gulf of America Coastal Ocean Observing System. https://gcoos.org/marine-heatwaves/ (ENG) https://gcoos.org/olas-de-calor/ (ESP)

Cerpa, C., & Poulton Kamakura, R. (2025). Designing Living Things: Human Relationships with Nature. Carolina Planning Journal, 50, 14–21.

Poulton Kamakura, R. Bai, J., Sheel, V., Katti, M (2024). Biodiversity is not a luxury: unpacking wealth and power to accommodate the complexity of urban biodiversity. Ecosphere. 15(11), e70049. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70049  

Ernst, A., Barak, R., Glasenhardt, MC., Kramer, A., Larkin, D., Marx, H., Poulton Kamakura, R., Hipp, A. (2023) Dominant species establishment may influence invasion resistance more than phylogenetic or functional diversity. Journal of Applied Ecology. 00, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14534

Tang, B., Poulton Kamakura, R., Barnett, D., Clark, J. (2023) Learning from monitoring networks: Few-large versus many-small (FLvMS) plots and multi-scale analysis. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1114569/full 

Dyson, K., Dawas, E., Poulton Kamakura, R., Alberti, M., Fuentes, T.L. (2023). Say where you sample: Increasing site selection transparency in urban ecology. Ecosphere. 14(3): e4466. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.duke.edu/10.1002/ecs2.4466 

Recent Presentations

Poulton Kamakura, R. (2025). What is biodiversity and why does it matter in cities? Invited Talk. Urban Biodiversity Futures Workshop. October 16. Chicago, IL. 

Poulton Kamakura, R. (2025) Marine heatwaves in the Gulf: understanding impacts in marine and coastal regions. Invited Lecture. Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) summer seminar series. June 6. Cocodrie, LA. 

Poulton Kamakura, R. Simoniello, C., Rao, D.R., Howson, M., Dzwonkowski, B., Qi, X., & Brenner, J. (2025) Marine Heatwave Impacts in the Caribbean, Gulf, and Southeastern U.S. Poster. Gulf Resilience Community of Practice Meeting. June 4. Houma, LA. 

Poulton Kamakura, R. (2024). Structural Inequality, Construction, and Street Trees in Durham, NC. Oral Presentation. Duke University Ecology at 100 Symposium. April 18. Durham, NC.

Poulton Kamakura, R. (2024). Urban Tree Health Across Space and Time. Invited Lecture. Berry College Environmental Science and Studies Lecture Series. Mar. 28. Rome, GA. 

Poulton Kamakura, R. (2024). Mass Surveillance, Big Data, and The Desire for Knowledge. Oral Presentation. University Scholars Program Spring Symposium: Autonomy & Autonomation: A Dialogue Between Us and Our Tools. Mar. 2. Durham, NC. 

Poulton Kamakura, R. (2023) Urban Street Tree Stewardship and Health in Socio-ecological Systems. Invited Lecture. E&E Seminar. Biology Department, University of Illinois at Chicago. November 7. Chicago, IL.

Poulton Kamakura, R. (2023) Urban Street Tree Stewardship and Health in Socio-ecological Systems. Invited Lecture. Morton Arboretum Tree Talk. November 6. Chicago, IL.

Poulton Kamakura, R., Kazanski, C., Clark, J.S., Huang, E., Nunes, A., Orozco, K., Rollinson, C.R., Johnson, M.L.L., & Holmes, R.V. (2023). Tree Health Depends on Local Site Characteristics and Patterns of Urban Displacement in Chicago’s West Side. Oral Presentation. Ecological Society of America. August 10. Portland, OR.

Poulton Kamakura, R., Bai, J., Sheel, V., & Katti, M. (2023). Biodiversity is not a Luxury: unpacking wealth and power to complicate our understanding of urban biodiversity. Oral Presentation. Ecological Society of America. August 10. Portland, OR.

Poulton Kamakura, R. (2023). Tree health in Durham: The importance of tree age, species, local growing conditions, and what they mean for our urban forest. Invited Lecture. TreesDurham Monthly Member Meeting. Apr 25. Durham, NC

General background on me

Academic research interests

young people in vests looking at an apricot tree, two squatting down and one entering data in a tablet standing up

Technicians since 2019

Activism outside academic research

Interviews, podcasts, science writing, and more

Full academic CV