Ecosystem ecology, global change and carbon cycling.
Research Area
Our research blends basic science in ecology and carbon cycling with applied science that evaluates how global change will affect ecosystem functioning, and solution-oriented science developing ways to implement solutions to help abate climate change. Our current work focuses on understanding how ecosystems respond to wildfires and the potential for net-emission reductions in agriculture.
Our research leverages field work. We conduct field experiments in Africa (South Africa and Mozambique), South America (Brazil), North America (USA) and Australia (NSW) manipulating grazing and fire regimes. In these sites, we sample plants and soils to evaluate how disturbances change carbon and nutrient cycling and what mechanisms go into predicting these changes. We use a variety of methods such as biogeochemical measurements of soil organic matter, microbial biomass and activity, soil greenhouse gas fluxes and plant traits.
We blend fieldwork with other datasets such as remote sensing. For example, we are studying wildfire effects in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California where ground surveys are used to benchmark spaceborne LiDAR and multispectral measurements. These data are used to unpack how fire regime impacts ecosystem recovery.
We also use data synthesis and models to understand how regenerative agriculture impacts greenhouse gas cycling. For example, we have integrated IPCC models to assess livestock emissions and lifecycle analyses of farm practices to quantify the full greenhouse gas budget.
Project Interests
I want to expand projects on: (i) effects of fire on carbon and nutrient cycling in peatlands, savannas, grasslands and agricultural systems; (ii) mapping and modelling impacts of natural climate solutions on greenhouse gas balances; (iii) using life cycle analyses and global trade datasets to estimate the systems-level solutions to reducing net-greenhouse gas emissions.
