Biogeochemistry in Northwestern US Forests

As a result of human activities, forests throughout the world have undergone wholesale ecological changes, and in some cases these changes represent shifts from "natural" stable states to alternative stable states that may be permanent. This is particularly true in the inland forests of the Pacific Northwest, where decades of timber extraction, fire suppression, insect outbreaks, disease, and now climate and atmospheric change have significantly altered both forest ecosystem structure and function.

In collaboration with others in the College of Forestry, I am currently developing several research projects investigating the effects such changes in forest structure and composition on ecosystem function, and how forest restoration treatments - designed to emulate pre-settlement aboveground stand structure and fire regimes - impact carbon and nutrient cycling in mixed coniferous forests. I am regularly looking for graduate students to conduct independent research projects investigating: 1) the causes and consequences of disturbance induced environmental change in forested ecosystesm; or 2) the effects of forest restoration treatments on soil biogeochemical processes (for more information on this work, click here). Prospective students interested in either of these projects should email me for more information.

Whitebark pine "skeleton"
Glacier National Park, MT