What does our research group do?

Ecosystem ecology is focused on how organisms in their natural habitats are affected by biotic and abiotic factors, and how these organisms in turn modify their environment. Our primary research interests are in the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and water within terrestrial ecosystems, and between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. Work in our group focuses on examining carbon and water relations of plants and soils at the ecosystem scale, with the principal goals of understanding 1) ecosystem physiological processes, 2) factors influencing the carbon and water cycles within ecosystems, 3) biosphere-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and their isotopes, and 4) ecosystem water balance. We focus primarily on ecosystems of the western United States. This work is interdisciplinary, requiring collaboration with (and help from) colleagues from a variety of scientific disciplines, including plant physiology, soil science, hydrology, micrometeorology, and geochemistry.