Team

Van Groenigen’s research focuses on how management practices and changes in atmospheric conditions affect the flow of C and N through ecosystems. To do this, he often use meta-analytic techniques to synthesize findings in his field of research. Van Groenigen also studies the role of soil microbes in C and Read more…

Woodruff’s graduate work involves analyzing the carbon-14 content of microbial DNA in Alaskan tundra soils to better understand carbon feedback loops and how they relate to global climate change. Before coming to NAU, Woodruff worked as a middle school and high school teacher for thirteen years sharing his excitement and Read more…

Adam’s research interests are broadly focused on understanding how ecosystems respond to environmental change at large spatial and temporal scales. To date, his research has mainly focused on: (1) quantifying fire-climate-vegetation relationships in boreal forest and tundra ecosystems, and (2) exploring how phenology regulates land-atmosphere fluxes of water and energy Read more…

Caitlin’s research addresses how saguaro cacti’s (Carnegiea gigantea) pollination biology is influenced by shifts in climate. In looking at saguaro’s physiological responses coupled with changes in their pollination ecology she hopes to better understand how climatic stressors will influence this charismatic species in the future. Full Curriculum Vitae

Zuniga’s research focuses primarily on how plants, specifically native grasses, interact with their local soil microbial community, the significance of their association, and what implications this may have on ecosystem processes as well as global climate change. She’s interested in increasing her understanding of  the complex structures of soil microbial Read more…

Xin works in the field combing high performance computation and ecosystem. Currently, her research mainly focuses on sensitivity analysis of terrestrial models based on observation data, trying to identify their influentially uncertain components and capture different models’ divergence along with their developments, especially Community Land Models (CLMs). This work contributes Read more…

Yuan focuses on ecosystem modeling, especially at semiarid sites. By applying MCMC method in the ecosystem model, he is working on better quantifying carbon dynamics of the semiarid sites. Full Curriculum Vitae

Explorations into the boundary of ecosystem-climate interactions through the lenses of biogeochemistry and ecology in the face of climate change, with a predominant focus on Arctic peatland and tundra. Full Curriculum Vitae

Paul’s research involves understanding how carbon pools move throughout different plant communities. Specifically looking at how processes such as soil respiration link surface and subsurface ecosystems through the exchange of carbon. The goal of this research is to learn more about how these carbon exchanges vary across the landscape so Read more…