School of Life Sciences and Sustainability

Thanks for visiting! We study how climate, disturbance, succession, and vegetation structure affect leaf to landscape processes in forests and wetlands. We seek M.S. and Ph.D. students to partner in research supported by the Department of Energy (DOE), National Science Foundation (NSF), EPA and NASA. Our work is conducted at VCU's Rice Rivers Center, the University of Michigan Biological Station, and across North America and beyond.

What we do: National Science Foundation projects ask how forests respond to disturbance. NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program and the new Training and Research in Earth and Environmental Sciences (TREES) Program provide immersive training. NASA and DOE projects investigate mid-Atlantic wetland carbon cycling and biodiversity using cutting-edge ground, air, and satellite observations. A Chesapeake Carbon Consortium (C3) project with the Nature Conservancy supports nature-based solutions through ecological restoration.

NEWS

I’m excited to announce that “En Masse”, a composition by FLUXNET Artist in Residence Sara Bouchard, will be performed for the first time in Richmond on October 8 at 7 pm in the VCU Institute of Contemporary Arts auditorium. The performance will follow an arts-sciences panel discussion. Details coming soon!

Fall

An eventful field season concluded following research campaigns at the Rice Rivers Center, VA’s Eastern Shore, and the north woods of Michigan. We welcomed two new lab members, Moriah and Trevor, as we spin up a new research partnership with the Nature Conservancy and VIMS investigating the ecological co-benefits of coastal wetland restoration. Ariel and crew collected data in our disturbance experiments up north, Lisa built a lateral flux system to pair with our Rice Rivers Center Ameriflux tower, and Douglas compared trace gas fluxes in restored and intact wetlands. Rin and Cree participated in NSF and NASA supported undergrad research training programs, respectively.

Summer

The Spring semester is underway and it’s writing and planning season! Brandon is wrapping up a paper linking forest structural complexity to continental biodiversity, Lisa is leading a mid-Atlantic wetland methane flux analysis, and Ariel is putting the final touches on a paper examining how disturbance severity reshapes forest plant communities.

Spring

Partially defoliated canopy.