Research Interests

My research program focuses on boreal forest ecosystem ecology. This has included studies on organic N cycling in soils, belowground carbon partitioning and fine root turnover, and the role of vertebrate herbivores in successional dynamics, ecosystem function and state transitions. I am also involved with groups exploring genomic approaches to bacterial and fungal community structure and function in boreal soils. A long-standing interest is the physiological ecology of alder-Frankia-mycorrhizal interactions, and the associated role of alder in boreal forest nutrient cycling and disturbance dynamics. Recently I’ve been collaborating with forest pathologists to investigate how feedbacks between carbon and drought stress have contributed to an outbreak of a novel fungal pathogen resulting in widespread mortality of trembling aspen throughout interior Alaska.

Over the years, my research has been inspired by collaborations with numerous outstanding staff, students, and scientists associated with the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research Program (http://www.lter.uaf.edu/)