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I am an associate Professor at Texas Tech University. My background is in quantitative global change ecology/biogeochemistry. I explore the effects of climate on soil microbial processes and plant physiology. The response of soil microbes and plants to a changing climate is critical if we are to predict whether they can slow or even enhance the rate of warming. Developing a global perspective is critical – and I have been fortunate to have worked in temperate deciduous forests, the Chihuahuan Desert, and most recently, in recently deglaciated areas on the Antarctic Peninsula. Please see my current daily Antarctic blog or visit my earlier 2018-2019 Antarctic blog to follow my research adventures in Antarctica.
Getting started: Early on I was fascinated by the question of how nutrient cycling will respond to human-induced environmental change. An early project was to understand the effect of leaf chemistry on calcium mineralization rates in Northeastern forests (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies). Acid rain can have severe negative consequences for sugar maple (Acer saccharum), a species with high leaf calcium content, thereby potentially altering forest composition and calcium cycling. Another project involved studying alterations in nutrient cycling in bottomland hardwood forests following river channelization (University of Memphis).
For the love of research: For my PhD at Texas Tech University, I worked in the Chihuahuan Desert at Big Bend National Park examining how precipitation and temperature singly and interactively affect plant physiology (Larrea tridentata; creosotebush) and microbial processes in desert ecosystems This was an exciting (and sometimes trying) time as I designed and conducted a novel climate change experiment in this beautiful and remote area of the desert Southwest (see Research Interests).
As a postdoctoral researcher with Bruce Hungate at the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (Ecoss; Northern Arizona University), I addressed whether ecosystems may lose or gain more carbon with warming. Earth System Models generally predict increased losses of carbon with warming, thereby contributing to faster rates of warming. Using a combination of data assimilation and meta-analysis I synthesized data from field warming experiments and evaluated whether soils would store or lose more carbon. Soils store far more carbon than the atmosphere holds, so knowing the fate of the soil carbon in the future is crucial.
There’s no place like the present: In my current position as an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University and an affiliate with the Texas Tech Climate Center, a consortium member of the South Central Climate Science Center, my focus is still on soil, but employing various quantitative approaches to address my research questions. I have two main projects:
Getting started: Early on I was fascinated by the question of how nutrient cycling will respond to human-induced environmental change. An early project was to understand the effect of leaf chemistry on calcium mineralization rates in Northeastern forests (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies). Acid rain can have severe negative consequences for sugar maple (Acer saccharum), a species with high leaf calcium content, thereby potentially altering forest composition and calcium cycling. Another project involved studying alterations in nutrient cycling in bottomland hardwood forests following river channelization (University of Memphis).
For the love of research: For my PhD at Texas Tech University, I worked in the Chihuahuan Desert at Big Bend National Park examining how precipitation and temperature singly and interactively affect plant physiology (Larrea tridentata; creosotebush) and microbial processes in desert ecosystems This was an exciting (and sometimes trying) time as I designed and conducted a novel climate change experiment in this beautiful and remote area of the desert Southwest (see Research Interests).
As a postdoctoral researcher with Bruce Hungate at the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (Ecoss; Northern Arizona University), I addressed whether ecosystems may lose or gain more carbon with warming. Earth System Models generally predict increased losses of carbon with warming, thereby contributing to faster rates of warming. Using a combination of data assimilation and meta-analysis I synthesized data from field warming experiments and evaluated whether soils would store or lose more carbon. Soils store far more carbon than the atmosphere holds, so knowing the fate of the soil carbon in the future is crucial.
There’s no place like the present: In my current position as an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University and an affiliate with the Texas Tech Climate Center, a consortium member of the South Central Climate Science Center, my focus is still on soil, but employing various quantitative approaches to address my research questions. I have two main projects:
- A warming experiment in Antarctica: to quantify the effects of warming on plants and soil microbes, in particular their activities in terms of carbon fluxes and growth rates. Experience it for yourself in my fun current daily Antarctic blog or my earlier 2018-2019 Antarctic blog
- A grower citizen science project with growers in the Texas High Plains region - what practices best increase soil carbon and improve soil health. See also my Grower Citizen Science Facebook page.
The Antarctic glacier I am standing on has receded 500 meters over a 50 year time-span, exposing the soil beneath. It is the deglaciated land in front of the glacier where I conduct my field experiment.