Aaron Potkay
| Function |
| Postdoctoral researcher |
| Contact |
| Email: aaron.potkay(at)tum.de / Tel: +49 8161 71 4707 / Room: 1.3.2.09 |
| Links |
| ResearchGate / ORCID / Google Scholar |
Biography |
| Dr. Aaron Potkay develops mechanistic tree models and integrates various modeling approaches to improve predictions of tree dynamics under global change. He became interested in tree physiology while as a PhD student in the geoscience department of Rutgers University. He continued to study trees as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Minnesota and as a NOAA Climate & Global Change Fellow the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Prior to his tree research, he studied engineering and hydrology at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the University of Texas at Austin. While transitioning between hydrology and tree physiology, he published one paper on the hydraulics within fungal-algal lichen symbiotes. He currently works on modeling wood formation at TUM. |
Research interests |
| Mechanistic tree modelling / Drought stress / Heat stress / Wood formation / Plant hydraulics / Stomatal behavior / Carbon allocation / Plant optimality theory / Pressure-volume relations |
Key publications |
Potkay A, Cabon A, Richards P, Fonti P, Sapes G, Sala A, Stefanski A, Butler E, Montgomery R, Reich P, Feng X. 2025 Generalized stomatal optimization of evolutionary fitness proxies for predicting plant gas exchange under drought, heatwaves, and elevated CO2. Global Change Biology. Potkay A, & Feng X. 2023 Do stomata optimize turgor-driven growth?: A new framework for integrating stomata response with whole plant hydraulics and carbon balance. New Phytologist, 238: 506–528. Potkay A, Hölttä T, Trugman A, Fan Y. 2022 Turgor-limited predictions of tree growth, height, and metabolic scaling over tree lifespans. Tree Physiology, 42(2), 229-252. Potkay A, Trugman A, Wang Y, Venturas MD, Anderegg WRL, Mattos CR, Fan Y. 2021 Coupled whole-tree optimality and xylem-hydraulics explain dynamic biomass partitioning. New Phytologist, 230(6), 2226-2245. Potkay A, Sloan B, Feng X. 2024 Stomatal parameters in a changing environment. Plant, Cell & Environment. |
Education and professional experience |
| Since 2025 Postdoctoral Researcher, Tree Growth and Wood Physiology group, Technical University of Munich, DE |
| 2023-2025 NOAA Climate & Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow, University Corporation for Atm. Research & University of Minnesota, USA |
| 2021-2023 Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Minnesota, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, USA |
| 2017-2021 PhD in Ecohydrology, Rutgers University, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, USA |
| 2015-2017 MSc in Geotechnical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Depart. of Civil, Architectural and Environ. Engineering, USA |
| 2011-2015 BSc in Civil & Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Depart. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, USA |