Broadly defined, my research interests

center on terrestrial biogeochemical

cycling processes.  Specifically, I

concentrate on identifying mechanisms

that regulate the cycling of carbon and

nutrients in soils.  My goal is to elucidate

how these mechanisms, biogeochemical

cycles, and ultimately the ecosystems

themselves, respond to external

perturbations that range from land use

to global change.

By pursuing this line of research I hope to contribute to a better understanding of two primary topics:

1. 1)land management to simultaneously ensure the sustained productivity of terrestrial ecosystems and maintain the environmental quality of adjacent ecosystems, and
   

2. 2)predicting feedbacks between terrestrial ecosystems and global change factors.
   

To this end I have received my Ph.D. from the University of Washington, College of Forest Resources in the lab of Rob Harrison, while working on a suite of Long-term Soil Productivity (LTSP) studies in the Pacific Northwest.  My dissertation research focused on chemical interactions at the solid-solution interface and the influence that such reactions have on the mobility and bioavailability of nutrient and organic compounds.

Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University with Jed Sparks investigating shifts in the C and N biogeochemistry of desert ecosystems in response to elevated atmospheric CO2 at the Nevada Desert FACE Facility.

Building on these experiences, I hope to continue to explore terrestrial biogeochemical cycling processes on molecular, landscape and global scales.