Research
We have several long-term experiments running in the lab:
- Every five years, we re-census large plots in WCU's Gordon Natural Area to assess changes in forest carbon storage, forest structure, and changes in tree species composition. We just hit the ten year anniversary for this project, and the most recent census was in 2023, when two WCU undergrads helped carry out field and lab research. Data analysis is currently underway, and results from our first five years of data collection were recently published with a former WCU undergrad.
- Every three years, we census a set of reforestation plots in partnership with the Mount Cuba Center (MCC) in Hockessin, DE. This project makes use of MCC's unprecedented reforestation experiment in which six different methods of reforestation have been established in three replicates (with a fourth coming soon). Our first measurements were made in 2015 prior to treatment installation. During the most recent census in 2022, two WCU undergraduates and I measured the plots established in 2015. We presented our research at the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, and our next census is planned for 2025!
- An examination of forest understory tree species photosynthetic responses to short-duration sunflecks. This work has just been submitted for publication together with a former WCU grad student.
- A project conducted jointly with a former WCU grad student, assisted by a former undergrad, to study changes in soil carbon cycling at the edges of forest fragments in southeastern PA. This work was recently published, and we found these forests lose a lot of carbon through soil respiration due to abiotic change at the forest edge. It's not great news from a climate-change perspective, but now we have more knowledge of these systems.
- I've worked in a number of ecosystems, in addition to forests, so ask me about my experience in the Arctic tundra of Alaska, the serpentine barrens of Pennsylvania, Florida's Everglades wetlands, or the Atlantic lowland rainforests of Costa Rica! Many of these research experiences have included WCU students.
- If you'd like to see who is currently working in the lab or has previoulsy worked in the lab, click through to the Lab Members page.