Research Areas

Conservation Biology, Ecology, Paleobiology

Research Interests

My research integrates across spatial and temporal scales to provide baseline information about the responses that species and communities have to climate change and novel environments. I examine how different factors—in particular, climate and biotic interactions—shape patterns of variation in genes, species, and assemblages, focusing primarily on the last 50,000 years of earth history and on small mammals. I blend perspectives from paleo, historic and contemporary systems using a diverse tool kit – original data collection in the field and lab, genomic and isotopic approaches, various modeling approaches, and database syntheses. I also use, contribute to, and help steward different university and museum collections and online data aggregators, and work towards improving the culture and climate of our research environments.

Selected Publications

Blois, J.L., Bellvé, A.M., Jarzyna, M.A., Saupe, E.E., and Syverson, V. J. P. (2025). Paleobiogeographic Insights Gained from Ecological Niche Models: Progress and Continued Challenges. Paleobiology 51(1): 8-28. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2024.16

Bellvé, A., Syverson, V., Blois, J.L., Jarzyna, M. (2026). Preservation biases in the fossil record distort species ecological niche and distribution models. Ecography 3: e08085. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08085

Staples, T.L., Blois, J.L., Cramer, K.L. ,Cunningham, E.T., Dornelas, M., Haberle, S.G., Heger, T., Kiessling, W., Magurran, A.E., O’Dea, A., Penny, A.M., Radeloff, V.C., Smith, J.A., Thuiller, W., Williams, J.W., Pandolfi, J M. (2025). A conceptual framework for measuring ecological novelty. Global Ecology and Biogeography 34(2):e70005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb.70005

Boria, R.A. and J.L. Blois (2023). Phylogeography within the Peromyscus maniculatus species group: Understanding past distribution of genetic diversity and areas of refugia in western North America. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 180: 107701. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107701

Fox, N.S., Southon, J.R., Howard, C.M., Takeuchi, G.T., Potze, S., Farrell, A.B., Lindsey, E.L., and J.L. Blois (2023). Millennial-scale drivers of small mammal isotopic niche dynamics in southern California. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 612: 111378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111378

Boria, R.A., Brown, S.K., Matocq, M.M., and J.L. Blois. (2021). Genome-wide genetic variation coupled with demographic and ecological niche modeling of the dusky-footed woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes) reveal patterns of deep divergence and widespread Holocene expansion across northern California. J. Heredity 126: 521–536. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-020-00393-7

Rapacciuolo, G. and J.L. Blois. (2019). Understanding community dynamics in space and time: integrating data and methods in light of theory. Ecography 42(7): 1247-1266. (E4 award winner). http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04616

Fitzpatrick, M.C.*, Blois, J.L.*, Williams, J.W., Nieto-Lugilde, D., Maguire, K.C., Lorenz, D. (2018). How will climate novelty influence ecological forecasts? Using the Quaternary to assess future reliability. Global Change Biology 24(8): 3575-3586. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.14138

Williams JW, Grimm EC, Blois JL, Charles DF, Davis E, et al. (2018). The Neotoma Paleoecology Database, a multiproxy, international, community-curated data resource. Quaternary Research 89(1): 156-177. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2017.105

Barnosky, A.D., Hadly, E.A., Gonzalez, P., Head, P., Polly, P. D., Lawing, A.M., Eronen, J.T., Ackerly, D.D., Alex, K., Biber, E., Blois, J.L., Brashares, J., Ceballos, G., Davis, E., Dietl, G.P., Dirzo, R., Doremus, H., Fortelius, M., Greene, H., Hellmann, J., Hickler, T., Jackson, S.T., Kemp, M., Koch, P.L., Kremen, C., Lindsey, E.L., Looy, C., Marshall,C.R., Mendenhall, C., Mulch, A., Mychajliw, A.M., Nowak, C., Ramakrishnan, U., Schnitzler, J., Das Shrestha, K., Solari, K., Stegner, L., Stegner, M.A., Stenseth, N.C., Wake, M.H., and Z. Zhang (2017). Merging Paleobiology With Conservation Biology to Guide the Future of Terrestrial Ecosystems. Science 355: eaah4787. http://jrbp.stanford.edu/research/publications/merging-paleobiology-conservation-biology-guide-future-terrestrial-ecosystems

Blois, J.L., Zarnetske, P.L., Fitzpatrick, M.C., and S. Finnegan (2013c). Climate change and the past, present, and future of biotic interactions. Science 341: 499-504. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1237184