Research

My research combines synthesis with observational studies and experimental approaches to understand how plant communities drive ecosystem functions and services, particularly in the face of environmental change. Currently, as a Climate Change Specialist at the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science and Michigan Tech University, I focus on assisting land managers in understanding the benefits and trade-offs of different management options centered around climate change adaptation. I synthesize scientific research and translate relevant science for effective land management and decision-making. I am also working with the newly established Minneapolis-St. Paul Long Term Ecological Research (MSP LTER) program as a Visiting Research Scholar to understand patterns and processes of urban forest resilience and resistance to environmental change. As a post-doc at the University of Minnesota, I collaborated with the Nutrient Network project to assess how nutrient pollution and grazing affect plant and soil C and nitrogen dynamics across temperate grasslands. In my dissertation research, I focused on developing a better predictive understanding of how above- and below-ground plant traits both affect and respond to variation in soil properties to drive essential ecosystem processes.