School of Geography & Geosciences
Department of Geography & Sustainable Development

Biography

I graduated with a BA (Hons) from the University of California, Berkeley in 1998, where I studied ecosystem ecology. After working as field and laboratory technician in Puerto Rico, I returned to Berkeley to pursue a PhD in biogeochemistry and soil microbial ecology. During my postgraduate tenure, I was awarded an Earth System Science fellowship to study methane cycling in the tropics by the US space agency NASA. After completing my PhD in 2005, I worked as a postdoctoral scholar studying stratospheric ozone-depleting substances (2005-2007) and greenhouse gas fluxes from managed peatlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (2007). In October 2007, I was appointed to a Lectureship in Physical Geography at St Andrews as part of the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society (SAGES).

My research interests lie at the intersection of ecosystem ecology, biogeochemistry, soil microbiology, isotope geochemistry and atmospheric chemistry. My work investigates the role of plants and microorganisms in regulating the cycling of trace gases, carbon and nutrients in terrestrial ecosystems. I have also become increasingly interested in understanding the impacts of human management activities (e.g. agriculture, habitat restoration, fire) on ecosystem services. My current research is focussed in several key areas:

• Investigating the contribution of Andean ecosystems to regional and global budgets of greenhouse gases
• Quantifying the impacts of natural and human disturbance on carbon cycling and greenhouse gas fluxes in tropical rainforests
• Evaluating the impacts of human management practices (e.g. drainage, habitat restoration) on temperate peatland biogeochemistry and greenhouse gas exchange
• Exploring the role of climate, weather events and vegetation on methane ebullition