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I am a forest ecosystem ecologist who works on questions related to scaling across levels of organization and time. I work on 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. My research has addressed relationships between plant genetics and ecosystem function, and temporal responses to large volcanic eruptions in temperate rainforests (in the PNW and Patagonian Chile). My work has specialized in the movement and storage of carbon and water in ecosystems (especially riparian forest ecology, forest carbon cycling, community change and whole-tree tree physiology). I also focus how forest plant communities change through time – the study of succession and disturbance ecology. I have taught forest ecology and field science programs at the Evergreen State College for over 20 years. These classes give students hands-on experience with real-world questions and measurement techniques in ecosystem and plant science.  Teaching and research in ecology are not separate in my worldview. As such, my work focuses on synergistic connections and the process of discovery across all levels. 

I have active research in the following areas . You can find a link to related publications here, and our lab page is linked here!

• Cottonwood Ecology  – understanding linkages between tree molecular genetics and ecosystem ecology of riparian forests in the West.
• Long-term datasets on temperate rainforest carbon dynamics. 
• 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).
• Whole-tree physiology and water-use in tree species of the Pacific Northwest.
• Plant community responses to fire, spatial scale, and succession.

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 include the Oregon Cascades (OR), the Sinlahekin Valley (WA), the Olympic Peninsula (WA), prairies of the southern Puget Sound lowlands (WA), the Metolius River (OR), Skokomish River (WA), Mount Saint Helens (WA), Cibola National Wildlife Refuge (AZ), and the Grand Canyon (AZ). Some classes include Science of Carbon, Fire on the Mountain, Temperate Rainforests: Biogeochemistry and Management, Trees, Forests, Plant Ecology and Physiology, and Field Ecology. Most 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), The Science of Carbon From the Forests to the Globe (2024/25), and Fire on the Mountain; Geology and Forest Ecology on Cascades Volcanoes (2025).