Thrilled to see that our paper on solid-phase organic matter reduction in peatland soils is officially published. The paper is entitled “Solid-phase organic matter reduction regulates anaerobic decomposition in bog soil” and is available through ESA’s new online, open access journal Ecosphere. You can find it here. I’m especially thankful for Dr. Kim Takagi who made this project happen.
I had the opportunity to record 1 minute, 43 seconds worth of my thoughts on anaerobic carbon cycling for the radio program, Academic Minute. I think the final product turned out pretty well — take a listen here and let me know what you think.
A big congratulations to Kellie and Kylle who have both been accepted into graduate school next fall! Kellie will be headed to Colorado State University for the Conservation Leadership Through Learning Program. Kylle will be returning home to Hawai’i to start in the M.S. in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science program at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo. Congrats!
A number of our alumni should be getting acceptance letters soon — stay tuned!
The long-awaited updates…
Jes Mosolf has received a competitive Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) and will be continuing her work on organic matter reduction in the laboratory this summer.
Morgan Brown has accepted a position with Dr. Christine Whitcraft at Cal State University, Long Beach. She will be working towards a M.S. in Biological Science focusing on some aspect of salt marsh ecology. I look forward to (hopefully) serving on her thesis committee!
Check out a new review article recently published in Global Change Biology. The article, entitled “Methane emissions from wetlands: biogeochemical, microbial, and modeling perspectives from local to global scales” can be found here. This was a fun, collaborative project with Scott Bridgham (University of Oregon), Hinsby Cadillo-Quiroz (Arizona State University) and Charlie Zhuang (Purdue University).
Our manuscript entitled “Soil Organic Carbon Storage in Restored Salt Marshes in Huntington Beach, California” has been published in the Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences! In this paper we quantify soil carbon storage in two salt marshes which had been restored for 2 and 22 years. In contrast to our hypothesis, soil carbon was generally higher in the more recently restored site suggesting that tracking carbon sequestration through time will likely be complicated by initial site conditions. This paper came out a semester-long project in my Fall 2011 Ecosystems Ecology course. TEN of the students in this course are co-authors on this manuscript. A copy of the manuscript can be viewed here.
We’re looking for a new post-doctoral fellow to join the lab in the Spring of 2013. Tell your friends! The position has been posted on ESA and SWS websites, and a description follows.
The School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Chapman University has an opening for a postdoctoral research fellow in wetland biogeochemistry. The individual hired for this position will work on a project exploring peatland methane cycling in the context of a multifactor climate change experiment (http://mnspruce.ornl.gov/). This position would be based in the laboratory of Dr. Jason Keller at Chapman University in Orange, CA but would involve frequent collaborations with Dr. Scott Bridgham at that University of Oregon. Ph.D. in appropriate field is required. Preference will be given to candidates with experience in anaerobic biogeochemistry and, in particular, the use of stable and radioisotopes to explore ecological processes including methane dynamics. The ideal candidate will have a successful track record in scientific publications as well as excellent written and oral communication skills. A willingness to engage undergraduate students in research is also desirable. Review of applications will begin on Jan. 15, 2013 with the position beginning in the Spring of 2013. Please send a cover letter with a current CV and contact information for three references to Dr. Jason Keller (jkeller@chapman.edu).
I had the opportunity to be one of the inaugural faculty members profiled by the Chapman University Office of Undergraduate Research. These videos were shot and produced by Chapman’s own Panther Productions. Our film school is world class and the production value is amazing. Take a look at the video on YouTube!
