Research.

Climate change is altering ecosystems globally. My research examines above- and belowground forest responses to climate change. 

How is climate change influencing forest trees and their belowground associations? Is climate change altering evolutionary trajectories of today’s forests? Do trees influence the soils beneath them? Does this influence feed back to affect trees and ecosystems? 

I address these types of questions using either current geographic distributions of plant species or long-term forest dynamics plots as natural ecological and evolutionary laboratories. My teams combine paired field observations, manipulative experiments, and climate data with modern genomic sequencing and community-level analysis to untangle climate-driven responses along the plant-microbe-soil interface. By combining modern approaches from microbial ecology, community and ecosystem genetics, and biogeography we can provide new perspectives and important tools for restoration, climate change mitigation, and educational outreach.