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Gough Lab

Thanks for visiting! Here, you will find information about our research in plant physiological and ecosystem ecology. Our emphasis is on understanding how climate, disturbance, succession, and ecosystem structure affect leaf to ecosystem-scale function, with a focus on forest and wetland carbon cycling.  Currently, we seek undergraduate student collaborators to conduct Department of Energy (DOE), National Science Foundation (NSF), and NASA supported research at VCU's Rice Rivers Center, and the University of Michigan Biological Station. Please contact Chris.


What are we doing this field season? A National Science Foundation project is asking how forests respond to different levels of disturbance. NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program East (SARP-E) is providing immersive research training for undergraduates. And, a DOE experiment is using mesocosms and flux towers to test the effects of sea level rise and nitrogen pollution on wetland carbon fluxes.

NEWS

Spring

2023

Fall

2022

Spring 2022

While some of us are preparing for a truly epic field season in the marshes of the east coast, the forests of the upper midwest, the skies of the mid-Atlantic, and from space (well, with the help of satellites), others are preparing to defend their dissertations. With lots of new and varied projects gearing up, we welcome several new  student and postdoc collaborators!

Big-time congratulations to our phenomenal award-winning, graduating, and authored students in the lab: Laura Hickey—Outstanding Biology MS Award; Kayla Mathes—Outstanding Biology PhD Award; Kerstin Niedermaier—Outstanding Biology TA Award. Congrats to Spring MS graduates, Kerstin and Laura, on the publication of their theses in peer-reviewed journals!

We’ve moved back to Richmond from the University of Michigan Biological Station and are gearing up for multiple new projects. With several recent lab graduates moving on and newly funded research, we are eager to partner with new students and postdocs on forest and wetland carbon cycling, and remote sensing focused projects. Reach out if you’d like to hear more!

Partially defoliated canopy.