Specialty

Terrestrial ecosystem ecology, nutrient cycling and linkages between elements, ecosystem responses to environmental change.

Research Interests

My research investigates how global change and human activities affect soils, terrestrial ecosystems, and biogeochemical cycling.  In particular, I aim to understand the controls on ecosystem structure and function from the tropics to the arctic.  My research approach uses natural gradients and manipulative experiments, data synthesis, and a variety of field and laboratory analytical techniques.  The ultimate goal of my work is to uncover the mechanisms that control the spatial and temporal patterns of nutrient cycles in order to predict how ecosystems will respond to local, regional, and global environmental change.

My current research projects include (1) human effects on the nitrogen cycle, (2) interactions among elemental cycles, (3) redox-sensitive biogeochemistry, and (4) ecosystem processes in seasonally snow-covered ecosystems.