Education

• PhD | University of Maryland, College Park
• M.S. | Columbus State University
• B.S. | Columbus State University

Research Interests

My research explores the causes and consequences of individual variation in plant performance across three interconnected areas: (1) identifying the drivers of variation in plant growth, survival, and reproduction, (2) understanding how this variation impacts population dynamics, species distributions, and community biodiversity, and (3) investigating how changing environments alter these relationships. I take an integrative approach to this research, combining the collection and modeling of long-term datasets, capturing phenotypic, genetic, and performance variation across scales, with lab and field experiments to evaluate how plants respond to environmental change. I have applied this approach to a range of ecosystems, including temperate and tropical tree communities, as well as within and among closely related California wildflowers.

Select Publications

• Worthy SJ, Ashlock SR, Miller A, Maloof JN, Strauss SY, Gremer JR, Schmitt J. (2025) Accelerated phenology fails to buffer fitness loss from delayed rain onset in a clade of wildflowers. American Naturalist 205:485-501.
• Worthy SJ, Miller A, Ashlock SR, Ceviker E, Maloof JN, Strauss SY, Schmitt J, Gremer JR. (2024) Germination responses to changing rainfall timing reveal potential climate vulnerability in a clade of wildflowers. Ecology 105(11):e4423.
• Flood M, Burgess KS, Kruse L, Ballenger J, Worthy SJ. (2023) Comparison of phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity of pitcher plant bogs in Georgia’s Coastal Plain. Plant Ecology 224:523-537.
• Worthy SJ, Marsico TD, Lucardi RD, Whitehurst LE, Burgess KS. (2022) Variation in plant traits and phylogenetic structure associated with native and nonnative species in an industrialized flora. NeoBiota 77:101-123.
• Worthy SJ, Laughlin DC, Zambrano J, Umaña MN, Zhang C, Lin L, Cao M, Swenson NG. (2020) Alternative designs and tropical tree seedling growth performance landscapes. Ecology 101(6):e03007
• Worthy SJ, Jiménez Paz RA, Pérez AJ, Reynolds A, Cruse-Sanders J, Valencia R, Barone JA, Burgess KS. (2019) Distribution and community assembly of trees along an Andean elevational gradient. Plants 8(9):326.