Team

Brian Howard is working to understand what trees grow back, and why, after a large wildfire in the Alaskan tundra. Brian is a second year PhD student in the Plant and Ecosystem Ecology Research (PEER) Lab at Ecoss. His research takes him to Denali National Park in Alaska where the Read more…

Lindy Jacobs has already explored the microbiome of the California condor and is now turning to the microbiomes of soils around the world, testing their responses to warming. Lindy is a first-year PhD student in the Hungate Lab at Ecoss. She grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and it Read more…

Keanan is interested in soil carbon cycling and ecosystem modeling within changing environments. He is working on how microbial functions change under rising temperatures and how they impact soil carbon dynamics. This research aims to broaden our understanding of microbial functions within soil carbon models. Full Curriculum Vitae

Austin is interested in understanding the effects of precipitation variation on grassland communities, through the scope of plant physiology. Austin’s research combines effects of soil moisture, precipitation, and elevational gradients to understand how plant communities may shift in response to changing climates.

Craig studies how environmental factors (e.g. climate, soils nutrients) affect the rate at which plants and microbes cycle carbon through ecosystems. His interests include mycorrhizal ecology, coupled elemental cycling, and quantifying uncertainty in ecosystem calculations. Currently Craig’s research focuses on how permafrost thaw affects the exchange of carbon between the Read more…

Understanding how ecosystem response to future climate change become more critical issue for ecological study. Mostly, ecosystem carbon cycle is central to ecosystem response to climate change. Chang Gyo Jung, PhD student in the Luo lab at ECOSS, is trying to explain the tallgrass ecosystem responses. Since his undergraduate and master Read more…

Kainrath’s research is focused on improving plant restoration techniques in sagebrush habitats that have been invaded by Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass). A major component of his study is to determine whether microbial inoculation is a beneficial option for land managers to improve growth and survivorship of transplanted native shrubs and grasses. Read more…