Team

Ayla graduated from NAU in 2017 with two B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Microbiology with a certificate in Biotechnology. As a Master’s student, she is studying how chemistry governs life belowground. To do this, she uses isotopically labeled carbon substrates in soil incubations to relate microbial catabolic rates to carbon Read more…

Megan McGroarty is a PhD student in Dr. Ted Schuur’s lab. She is interested in understanding the possible effects of permafrost thaw on carbon cycling in the Arctic, specifically with a focus on the possible impacts on decomposition. Further, Megan aims to learn communicative skills as well to bring what Read more…

Jonas is studying the ecological effects of bark beetle outbreaks around his home on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. He is interested in the future of Alaskan forests and the repercussions of disturbance on carbon cycling. Full Curriculum Vitae

Callie is interested in looking at how fungal foliar endophytes mediate leaf litter decomposition in aquatic and terrestrial environments. She is more generally interested in the microbial ecology of leaf-litter decomposition in streams. She will be using qSIP to answer these questions.

Anastasia is interested in understanding how climate change is altering ecosystem structure and function and what consequences these changes have for nutrient cycling, plant-soil-microbe interactions, and carbon storage. She is particularly interested in changes in disturbance regime and plant community composition in Arctic and boreal systems.   Full Curriculum Vitae

Amanda is employing quantitative stable isotope probing (qSIP) to explore how fluctuations in temperature can influence the composition and abundance of fungal communities in freshwater streams. Her research aims to understand responses of fungi to environmental changes, particularly in relation to leaf litter decomposition and nutrient cycling in the face Read more…

Austin’s research is focused on forest biogeochemistry and how global climate change may influence its driving factors. As a graduate student at NAU he would like to address how the soil co2 efflux in a sub-alpine environment is influenced by its primary contributors, root and microbe respiration, at different time Read more…