Bio
I am a biogeochemist interested in how human activities and environmental change shape the interactions of carbon, nutrients, and minerals at the soil-water interface. Specifically, I integrate field and laboratory techniques to investigate how redox-sensitive processes respond to disturbances in environments that span coastal wetlands, temperate forests, contaminated military sites, and remote Arctic tundra. Current research themes include assessing the influence of metal cycling on phosphorus mobilization in urban-impacted coastal systems; evaluating how biogeochemical processes respond to variable flow patterns in non-perennial stream networks; understanding how geochemical and microbial factors regulate phosphorus cycling in Arctic tundra; and improving the overall representation of biogeochemical processes in Earth system models.
Before starting at ORNL, I was a Postdoctoral Associate at the Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth, MN. I completed a PhD in Civil Engineering (Environmental focus) at the University of Minnesota, and dual B.S. degrees in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and Chemistry at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN. When I'm not doing science, you can find me hiking, reading, exploring and observing nature, experimenting in the kitchen, or doing the NY Times Crossword.
Professional Experience
WaDE: Watershed Dynamics and Evolution Focus Area
Member of Theme 1: Dynamic Headwaters
Education
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
M.S. in Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
B.Sc. in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, Bethel University, St. Paul, MN
B.A. in Chemistry, Bethel University, St. Paul, MN