Lab members
In addition to the five Ph.D. students and one postdoctoral fellow currently in our lab, several undergraduates work with us as interns, research assistants, and honors students.
Ph.D. students
Kris Hulvey
Community and ecosystem consequences of biodiversity loss; impact of native plant population declines in California grasslands; ecological extinction thresholds; biological invasions and their management.
For my dissertation, I am asking how shifts in native species abundances affect the ability of California grasslands to resist the impacts of exotic invaders. My current work looks at the competitive interaction of the native tarweed, Hemizonia congesta subs. luzulifolia, with yellow starthistle, a noxious weed.
Joanna Nelson
My dissertation research explores how sea level rise and human nitrogen pollution interact to influence estuaries and their provision of ecosystem services. I am measuring denitrification as a window into how the ecosystem service of water quality improvement responds as salt marshes become mudflats.
Other interests: terrestrial-marine interactions in coastal ecosystems of central California and environmental decision-making; structuring interdisciplinary teaching and learning, fire- and climate-mediated effects on subsistence resources in the boreal forest of Alaska; collaborations between scientific research-based and local knowledge-based systems; resilience and vulnerability of humans-in-ecosystems.
Jae Pasari
My dissertation work concerns plant invasions, biodiversity conservation, and natural areas management. Currently, my work focuses on Bay Area serpentine grasslands, an important but increasingly threatened habitat for many rare native species. Using observational and experimental approaches, I am asking three questions: how changes in the environment and changes in land management influence species composition, how grazing and nitrogen deposition influence species composition, and how native species composition affects the success of invaders. My CV
Blair McLaughlin
My research is on valley oaks in California, spanning riparian forests, oak woodlands and upper elevation mixed-conifer forests. I am looking at the problem of recruitment failure in valley oak populations, and the effects of climate change and invasive species on mortality and recruitment rates throughout the species' range. We focus on potential areas of range contraction and expansion, as projected by bio-climate models, with the goal of enhancing these models with long-term ground-level ecological data.
The project also involves the human dimension of ecology, as over 90% of valley oak distribution is on private land. I am working with the California Coast Rangeland Coalition to explore synergies between local knowledge of ranchers and the technological and methodological contributions of the discipline of ecology. Through this collaboration we hope to develop conservation and policy approaches that emerge from stewards and practitioners as well as academics.
Getachew Eshete Tadesse
I am interested in the promotion of biodiversity-human relationships in ancient agroecosystems and surrounding natural landscapes using interdisciplinary inquiry involving biodiversity dynamics, restoration ecology, GIS, remote sensing and modeling in the context of invasion biology and climate change. My research centers on dryland regions of Ethiopia.
Postdoctoral fellows
Dr. Paul Selmants
Sound scientific information should be the basis of land management and environmental policy decisions. However, such information is often best supplied through basic research into how ecosystems function. That’s why I’m interested in both basic and applied research on ecosystem processes like biogeochemical cycling, water and energy balance, productivity, and carbon sequestration. There are a number of compelling reasons why this research is important, but the real reason I do this kind of work is that I like figuring out how stuff works. My CV.
Former fellows
Nicole Heller (2006-2007) -- Research Scientist, Climate Central
Dan Hernandez (2007-2008) -- Assistant Professor, Carleton College
Blake Suttle (2007-2008) -- Grantham Lecturer in Climate Change, Imperial College, UK