I‘m a forest ecosystem ecologist with a passion for studying ecology, plants, and how ecosystems change through time and in response to environmental change. I often focus on measuring important elements in ecosystems like carbon, and movement of carbon and water through ecosystems, but I also focus a lot on forest communities. I like to look at both how small things (like genes) scale up to affect ecosystems, and how big things (like climate change and volcanic eruptions) scale down to affect ecosystems. A fundamental part of my teaching philosophy is that teaching and research in ecology are not separate. Teaching and research are synergistic, and my classes are a process of discovery for all involved. Learn more about sciences at Evergreen here!

My research addresses linkages between plant diversity and ecosystem function, and ecosystem responses to disturbance. I focus on riparian forest ecology, forest carbon cycling, community change and whole-tree tree physiology. You can find a link to my publications here, and  my lab page is linked here!

• I have worked extensively with a collaborative research network – the Cottonwood Ecology Group – to understand linkages between tree molecular genetics and ecosystem ecology of riparian forestsin the West, and the Southwest (USA).
• I manage long-term datasets on temperate rainforest carbon dynamics. These projects intersect with training students how to conduct forest carbon stock inventories.
• I use long-term plots to study forest understory plant community recovery following the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. This project is a continuation of the 40-year study by Dr. Joe Antos (UBC – Victoria) and Dr. Donald Zobel (OSU)
• My other work in plant community ecology has addressed plant community responses to fire and spatial scale.

My teaching (Evergreen Faculty member since 2005) allows me to work in a diverse array of ecosystems because my classes often focus on conducting field studies and hands-on ecological science. Recent remote field sites I have worked in include the Skokomish River (WA), Mount Saint Helens (WA), Cibola National Wildlife Refuge (AZ), Grand Canyon (AZ), The Sinlahekin Valley (WA), the Metolius River (OR), and the prairies of the southern Puget Sound lowlands (WA). Some recent classes I’ve taught include Temperate Rainforests: Biogeochemistry and Management, Trees, Water in the West: History and Ecology, Introduction to Environmental Studies, Forests, Plant Ecology and Physiology, and Field Ecology. Recent courses include  Climate Change, Fire and Carbon in Terrestrial Ecosystems (fall 2023), and Patagonia and the Pacific Northwest: Conservation and Ecology of Temperate Rainforests (Winter 2024), and The Science of Carbon From the Forests to the Globe (2024/25).