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Contact Information Last updated 9 / 30 / 2005 |
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Topics in Biology: Global Change Biology (BIOL 114-07)
Global change is a topic of increasing interest to scientists, the public, and policy-makers. The goal of this course is to develop an understanding of the key aspects of global environmental change and the biological effects of those changes. The course is divided into three units, with the first focused on understanding select global change factors. The second unit focuses on the ecological effects of global environmental change, and includes topics such as basic plant biology, the carbon cycle, species' range shifts, invasive species, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem processes. The third unit focuses on the public policy response to global change. Readings and discussions in the course primarily focus on understanding responses to atmospheric and climatic change, but some time is devoted to other topics such as acid rain, changes in the nitrogen cycle, and land-use change. In addition, students in the course have the opportunity to more fully explore other facets of global change through independent library research for a class presentation and final paper.
General Ecology (BIOL 280-01)
Link to departmental course description
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My research interests center around the question of how plant communities respond to environmental change. I am addressing this broad issue with research in two specific areas of plant ecology.
In one research area, I am investigating how experimental communities of herbaceous plants and trees respond to four factors predicted to change under future global climate scenarios. These factors include increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, increased temperature, increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition, and changes in precipitation. This research was initiated at the OEB glasshouse and experimental garden on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In the second area of research, I am investigating how plant species diversity and community structure in tallgrass prairies are affected by small-scale soil disturbances created in a spatially-explicit manner. This research was conducted at two locations in Iowa. One location, Anderson Prairie, is an 80-ha remnant of native tallgrass prairie in northwestern Iowa. The second location is at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, a 3500-ha refuge of reconstructed tallgrass prairie in central Iowa.
Students with an interest in ecology who would like to consider pursuing a research project with me are encouraged to contact me at their earliest convenience.
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Friends of Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge
New England Botanical Club
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