About Doria Gordon

Doria Gordon

Lead Senior Scientist II

Contact

Washington, D.C. Office

Work

Areas of expertise:

Cropland greenhouse gas mitigation, natural climate solutions, invasion biology, biodiversity conservation, fire ecology, restoration ecology

Doria Gordon works in EDF’s Office of the Chief Scientist, with particular focus on terrestrial ecosystems and agriculture. In this role, Doria explores emerging scientific, technical, and environmental issues, and integrates cutting edge science into EDF’s work. She also facilitates connections between EDF staff and external scientists with the expertise needed to meet EDF’s goals.

Doria’s research interests include natural climate solutions, including agriculture’s role in mitigating GHG, governance of biotechnology intended for agricultural and environmental uses, forest conservation and restoration, fire ecology, and invasive species risk assessment. In previous roles she has worked collaboratively on multiple conservation issues, from habitat protection prioritization to the impacts of sea level rise on coastal habitats.

Background

Doria came to EDF after spending over two decades with The Nature Conservancy in Florida. She is a courtesy Professor of Biology at the University of Florida and a Research Affiliate of Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, Florida.

Education

  • Ph.D. – Biological Ecology 1989; University of California, Davis
  • M.S. – Biological Ecology 1986; University of California, Davis
  • B.A. – Biology and Environmental Studies 1981; Oberlin College, Ohio

Publications

Over 125 peer reviewed papers, book and proceedings chapters (full list) 

Buma, B., C. Dietzen, D.R. Gordon, K. Maher, R.B. Neumann, N. Planavsky, T. Reershemius, T.J. Suhrhoff, S. Vicca, B.G. Waring, M. Almaraz, S. Calabrese, L.A. Derry, M.G. Morgan, J. Higgins, B.Z. Houlton, Y. Kanzaki, A. Klemme, T. Kukla, E.E. Oldfield, I.M. Power, C.R. Pearce, W.L. Silver, and S. Zhang. 2025. Expert elicitation on agricultural enhanced weathering highlights CO2 removal potential and uncertainties in loss pathways. Nature Communications Earth & Environment. In review. Preprint: https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7040857/v1 

Canavan, S., K. Canavan, S. Kumschick, D.R. Gordon, J.R.U. Wilson, and D. Lieurance. 2025. Invasive species risk assessment in practice: Insights from a survey of practitioners. Neobiota. 99: 341-362. https://neobiota.pensoft.net/article/153010/   

McClelland, S.C., D. Bossio, D.R. Gordon, J. Lehmann, M.N. Hayak, S.M. Ogle, J. Sanderman, S.A. Wood, Y. Yang, and D. Woolf. 2025. Managing for climate and production goals on croplands. Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02337-7. 

Bellis, J., M.A. Albrecht, J. Maschinski, S.E. Dalrymple, M.J. Keir, T. Chambers, J. Possley, E.D. Adkins, E.W. Parsons, M. Kunz, C. Radcliffe, E. Coffey, T.N. Kaye, C.L. Peterson, A.S. David, S.A. Herron, E.S. Menges, T. Bell, M. Coppoletta, K. McEachern, P.S. Williamson, D. Boensch, M. Bontrager, C. Breeden, N. Frade, K. Freitag, D.R. Gordon, S.O. Link, T. Littlefield, S. Murray, R. O’Dell, N.B. Pavlovic, C.M. Reemts, D.D. Taylor, J.H. Titus, P.J. Titus, T.A. Stanley, and K.D. Heineman. 2025. The relative influence of geographic and environmental factors on rare plant translocation outcomes. Journal of Applied Ecology. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14855. 

Oldfield, E.E., J.M. Lavallee, J. Blesh, M.A. Bradford, M. Cameron-Harp, M.F. Cotrufo, A.J. Eagle, L. Eash, R.J. Even, S. Kuebbing, E.A. Kort, T.J. Lark, C. Latka, Y. Lin, M.B. Machmuller, B. O’Neill, A.M. Raffeld, T. RoyChowdhury, J. Rudek, J. Sanderman, C.D. Sprunger, N. Uludere Aragon, M. Vidal, D. Woolf, T.J. Zelikova, and D.R. Gordon. 2024. Greenhouse gas mitigation on croplands: Clarifying the debate on knowns, unknowns and risks to move forward with effective management interventions. Carbon Management 15(1): 2365896. https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2024.2365896. 

Buma, B., D.R. Gordon, K.M. Kleisner, A. Bartuska, A. Bidlack, R. DeFries, P. Ellis, P. Friedlingstein, S. Metzger, G. Morgan, K. Novick, J. Sanchirico, J.R. Collins, A.J. Eagle, R. Fujita, E. Holst, J.M. Lavallee, R.N. Lubowski, C. Melikov, L.A. Moore, E.E. Oldfield, J. Paltseva, A.M. Raffeld, N.A. Randazzo, C. Schneider, N. Uludere Aragon and S. P. Hamburg. 2024. Expert review of the science underlying nature-based climate solutions. Nature Climate Change 21: 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-01960-0.  

Lieurance, D., S. Canavan, D.C. Behringer, A.E. Kendig, C. Minteer, L.S. Reisinger, C.M. Romagosa, S.L. Flory, J.L. Lockwood, P.J. Anderson, S.M. Baker, J. Bojko, K.E. Bowers, K. Canavan, K. Carruthers, W.M. Daniel, D.R. Gordon, J.E. Hill, J.G. Howeth, B.V. Iannone III, L. Jennings, L.A. Gettys, E. Kariuki, J.M. Kunzer, H.D. Laughinghouse IV, N. Mandrak, S. McCann, T. Morawo, C.R. Morningstar, M. Neilson, T. Petri, I.A. Pfingsten, R.N. Reed, L.J. Walters, C. Wanamaker. 2023. Identifying invasive species threats, pathways, and impacts to improve biosecurity. Ecosphere 14: 34711. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4711.  

Randazzo, N.A. and D.R. Gordon. 2023. Realistic potential increases in biomass carbon storage via rotation extension across Pacific Northwest timber-producing forests. Carbon Management 14:1.  https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2023.2265154. 

Ivanovich, C.C., T. Sun, D.R. Gordon and I.B Ocko. 2023. Future Warming Impacts of Global Food Consumption. Nature Climate Change 13: 297–302. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01605-8.  

Randazzo, N., D.R. Gordon, S.P. Hamburg. 2023. Improved assessment of baseline and additionality for forest carbon crediting. Ecological Applications 33, e2817. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2817. 

Kendig, A.E., S. Canavan, P.J. Anderson, S. L. Flory, L.A. Gettys, D.R. Gordon, B.V. Iannone III, J.M. Kunzer, T. Petri, E.A. Pfingsten, and D. Lieurance. 2022. Scanning the horizon for invasive plant threats to Florida, USA. NeoBiota 74: 129-154. https://neobiota.pensoft.net/article/83312/  

DeFries, R., R. Ahuja, J. Friedman, D.R. Gordon, S. P. Hamburg, S. Kerr, J. Mwangi, C. Nouwen, and N. Pandit. 2022. Land management can contribute to net-zero. Science 376 (6598): 1163-1165. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo0613.  

Oldfield, E.E., A.J. Eagle, R.L Rubin, J. Rudek, J. Sanderman, and D.R. Gordon. 2022. Realizing the potential of agricultural soil carbon sequestration requires more effective accounting. Science 375 (6586): 1222-1225. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abl7991.  

Bracy-Knight, K., P.J. Comer, B.R. Pickard, D.R. Gordon, and T. Toombs. 2021. Including condition into ecological maps changes everything - A study of ecological condition in the conterminous United States. Land 10, 1145. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10111145.  

Gordon, D.R., G. Jaffe, T.M. Gremillion, M. Doane, A. Glaser, M.D. Ho. 2021. Governance of gene editing applications in agriculture and the environment. Nature Biotechnology 39:1055–1057. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-01023-1.   

Petri, T., S. Canavan, D.R. Gordon, D.M. Lieurance and S.L. Flory. 2021. Effects of domestication on non-native plant invasion risk. Plant Ecology 222(5), 549-559. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-021-01130-8.  

Phelan, R., B. Baumgartner, S. Brand, E. Brister, S.W. Burgiel, R.A. Charo, I. Coche, A. Cofrancesco, J.A. Delborne, O. Edwards, J.P. Fisher, M. Gaywood, D.R. Gordon, G. Howald, M.E. Hunter, P. Kareiva, A. Mankad, M. Marvier, K. Moseby, A.E. Newhouse, B.J. Novak, G. Ohrstrom, S. Olson, M.J. Palmer, S. Palumbi, N. Patterson, Jr., M. Pedrono, F. Pelegri, Y. Rohwer, O.A. Ryder, J.R. Saah, R.M. Scheller, P.J. Seddon, H.B. Shaffer, B. Shapiro, M. Sweeney, M.R. Tercek, D.Thizy, W. Tilt, M. Weber, R.D. Wegrzyn, B. Whitelaw, M. Winkler, J. Wodak, M. Zimring, P. Robbins. 2021. Intended Consequences statement. Conservation Science and Practice 3: e371. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.371.  

Burgiel, S.W., B. Baumgartner, E. Brister, J. Fisher, D.R. Gordon, B. Novak, M.J. Palmer, P.J. Seddon, and M. Weber. 2021. Exploring the intersections of policy, constituencies, and risk in genetic interventions. Conservation Science and Practice 3: e380. https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.380.