Garrett is a disturbance ecologist who studies how forests change across multiple scales in space and time. He investigates forest health and landscape dynamics using multiple methods, including field observations, remote sensing, GIS, and ecological modeling. Garrett's prior research at Oregon State quantified the interactions of native insect outbreaks and wildfires across the US Pacific Northwest. His postdoctoral research topics at the University of Vermont included wind disturbance, old-growth forests, ecosystem services, and forest management. Garrett currently focuses on the landscape patterns of fire effects, particularly the composition, structure, and function of fire refugia.