Photo Credit: Pat Sorenson
I am broadly interested in the effects of anthropogenic change on forest ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling. My dissertation research at Boston University, in Professor Pamela Templer’s lab, focused on determining the effects of climate change on plant-mediated components of the forest carbon and nitrogen cycle. Warmer winters in the northeast United States are projected to lead to a smaller winter snowpack, exposing soils to cold air and an increased frequency of freeze and thaw cycles. I am interested in how increased cycles of freezing and thawing, in addition to longer and warmer growing seasons, impact how plants plants take up and retain nutrients at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in NH.
In addition to my research, I am committed to educating broad audiences about the value of natural ecosystems, the projected changes to the environment, and to encouraging underrepresented groups to pursue education and skills in science and engineering fields. As a PhD student, I was advisor for Boston University’s Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)@Warren Towers program, a residential program for freshman women interested in science and engineering majors. I also worked in a Boston Public School as a fellow in BU’s GK-12 program, Project Glacier. I developed lesson plans relating to climate change and urban ecology for 7th and 8th grade students.
I am currently a postdoctoral research associate working with Scott Ollinger at the University of New Hampshire exploring how changes in land use and winter climate feedback to influence ecosystem scale carbon and nutrient cycling across the northeast US.
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