Research
Overview
My research takes a data-driven approach to understand the complex and interacting effects of global change on terrestrial biodiversity including species range dynamics, biotic interactions, phenology and plant-soil feedbacks. I combine different research methods including field and greenhouse experients, ecological field and drone surveys, environmental senor arrays and more. I synthesize ecological and environmental data across these multiple sources, as well as from publicly available global climate and trait databases, long-term experimental monitoring networks, environmental DNA sequencing data and other digital repositories. I have a passion for ecological modeling and employ numerous different approaches to quantify the mechanistic drivers and impacts of global change on terrestrial ecosystems. I actively utilize and teach best practices in reproducible research and open data science including creating and leading a live coding workshop on “Incorporating Github into your workflow.”
You can find my Github page here.
FFEC Research
Stay tuned!!
Postdoctoral research
My Postdoctoral research aimed to further understand how climate change is influencing alpine and arctic tundra plant communities through changes in plant phenology, functional traits, and community composition. I utilized long term datasets from the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) and Niwot Ridge LTER, and collaborated with fantastic tundra scientists at CU Boulder, UBC and around the world. As a postdoc at UBC, I also began co-leading a large project carrying out tundra plant research at Garibaldi Provincial Park (Garibaldi ITEX). For more info on this project and to get involved check out our website HERE.
PhD research
My dissertation research focused on climate driven shifts in alpine plant community composition, in particular woody plant range expansion, and how these shifts alter soil microbial communities, nutrient cycling and below-ground ecosystem function. I worked primarily in the White Mountains of California, studying the below-ground impacts of a native range expanding shrub species (Artemisia rothrockii, timberline sagebrush) and it's feedbacks to other native plant species (See photos below!). Towards the end of my dissertation, I expanded the focus of this research to the global scale by examining the impacts of alpine woody plant range expansion on soil microbial communities (AWESoM) at 13 sites across 10 countries and 4 continents.
My research takes a data-driven approach to understand the complex and interacting effects of global change on terrestrial biodiversity including species range dynamics, biotic interactions, phenology and plant-soil feedbacks. I combine different research methods including field and greenhouse experients, ecological field and drone surveys, environmental senor arrays and more. I synthesize ecological and environmental data across these multiple sources, as well as from publicly available global climate and trait databases, long-term experimental monitoring networks, environmental DNA sequencing data and other digital repositories. I have a passion for ecological modeling and employ numerous different approaches to quantify the mechanistic drivers and impacts of global change on terrestrial ecosystems. I actively utilize and teach best practices in reproducible research and open data science including creating and leading a live coding workshop on “Incorporating Github into your workflow.”
You can find my Github page here.
FFEC Research
Stay tuned!!
Postdoctoral research
My Postdoctoral research aimed to further understand how climate change is influencing alpine and arctic tundra plant communities through changes in plant phenology, functional traits, and community composition. I utilized long term datasets from the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) and Niwot Ridge LTER, and collaborated with fantastic tundra scientists at CU Boulder, UBC and around the world. As a postdoc at UBC, I also began co-leading a large project carrying out tundra plant research at Garibaldi Provincial Park (Garibaldi ITEX). For more info on this project and to get involved check out our website HERE.
PhD research
My dissertation research focused on climate driven shifts in alpine plant community composition, in particular woody plant range expansion, and how these shifts alter soil microbial communities, nutrient cycling and below-ground ecosystem function. I worked primarily in the White Mountains of California, studying the below-ground impacts of a native range expanding shrub species (Artemisia rothrockii, timberline sagebrush) and it's feedbacks to other native plant species (See photos below!). Towards the end of my dissertation, I expanded the focus of this research to the global scale by examining the impacts of alpine woody plant range expansion on soil microbial communities (AWESoM) at 13 sites across 10 countries and 4 continents.