Ashley Ballantyne, PhD

My background is in the ecological and earth sciences and I am curious about the interactions between Earth's climate and biology over a range of scales.  My research seeks to gain insight into factors regulating Earth's climate in the past as well as factors limiting CO₂ uptake in the future.  Earth's climate and biogeochemical cycles are inextricably linked and I find this fascinating.

Marie Johnson, PhD student

Like any good Minnesotan, I grew up playing hockey and eating hotdish. I received my B.S. from the University of Minnesota and my M.S. from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. I am interested in investigating ecosystem function and recovery of disturbed habitats and their implications from local to global scales. I have a special interest in conservation technologies and open data science. In my free time I enjoy skiing, surfing, climbing and traveling.

Joe Vanderwall, PhD student

I am interested in factors controlling metabolism in aquatic ecosystems and the carbon balance of alpine lakes within their watersheds.  When I am not doing science I can be found playing music or running around in the woods.

Alisa Wade PhD, UM Bridges program coordinator

I am a spatial ecologist and conservation scientist with a particular interest in bridging the gap between science and management.  I hold a PhD in Earth Sciences (Colorado State University) where I participated as an NSF-IGERT fellow.  I am currently the coordinator for UM BRIDGES an NSF graduate research training program at UM.

Tamara Fletcher, Past Research Scientist

I am interested in the climate and palaeoenvironment of the Canadian High Arctic during the Early to mid-Pliocene Warm Period, ~4 million years ago. We are particularly motivated by the puzzle of polar amplification of arctic temperatures during past warm periods and their relevance for future climate change. The Arctic is a critical part of the climate system, yet the combination of feedbacks driving temperatures at the poles is not known. I use biological proxies of climate and environments to investigate these questions.

Annie Cooper, PhD graduated

My PhD focused on combining satellite observations with forest metrics to gain new insight on the response of ecosystem dynamics to changes in disturbance.

Charlotte Reed, MSC graduated

My research combined dendrochronology, stable isotope analysis and plant ecophysiology to understand how conifer responses to recent climate change may provide insight into future carbon dynamics in forested ecosystems. 

Andrew Hursh, MSC graduated

My research focused on assessing the response of terrestrial respiratoin to carbon supply, temperature, and soil moisture at global scales.