• Adjunct Assistant Professor of Plant Biology and Conservation at Northwestern University

• Adjunct Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Illinois, Chicago

Botanical Society of America

• Urban ecology

• Urban forestry

• Species conservation

• Spatial analysis

Natalie Love is an urban and spatial ecologist with a focus on urban trees. Her research focuses on assessing the spatial distribution of plant species in cities and the value of this biodiversity for ecosystem function and conservation in urban landscapes. She addresses scientific questions at a range of spatial scales and using a variety of methods including remote sensing, experimental field work, leveraging existing datasets, and population genetics with the aim of advancing science-backed policy for urban greening initiatives especially in the context of climate change. 

N. L. R. Love* and Pawlak, C. C.*, J. M. Yost, G. A. Fricker, J. M. Doremus, and M. K. Ritter. 2023. California’s native trees and their use in the urban forest. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 89: 128125.* co-first author

Love, N. L. R., V. Nguyen, C. Pawlak, A. Pineda, J. L. Reimer, J. M. Yost, G. A. Fricker, et al. 2022. Diversity and structure in California’s urban forest: What over six million data points tell us about one of the world’s largest urban forests. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 74: 127679.

Cho, A., N.L.R. Love, R. Cintron, J. Nicholson, L. Xu, G. C. Nunez-Mir, J. Lee, et al. 2025. Plant species selection and participatory community co-design are essential in balancing ecosystem services and disservices in urban areas. Environmental Research Letters 20: 051003.

Lynch, S. C., E. Reyes-Gonzalez, E. L. Bossard, K. S. Alarcon, N. L. R. Love, A. D. Hollander, B. E. Nobua-Behrmann, and G. S. Gilbert. 2025. A phylogenetic epidemiology approach to predicting the establishment of multi-host plant pests. Communications Biology 8: 117.

Lee, J., M. Berkelhammer, M. D. Wilson, N.L.R. Love, and R. Cintron. 2024. Urban Land Surface Temperature Downscaling in Chicago: Addressing Ethnic Inequality and Gentrification. Remote Sensing 16: 1639.

Rendon, P., N.L.R. Love, C. Pawlak, J. Yost, M. Ritter, and J. Doremus. 2024. Street tree diversity and urban heat. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 91: 128180.

Ventura, J., C. Pawlak, M. Honsberger, C. Gonsalves, J. Rice, N. L. R. Love, S. Han, et al. 2024. Individual tree detection in large-scale urban environments using high-resolution multispectral imagery. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 130: 103848.
 

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