People

Staff

Lab manager and technician: Cathleen Nguyen 612-624-6951

Postdoctoral associates

Remote sensing of vegetation in the Dimensions of Biodiversity project at Cedar Creek.

Biogeographic history, evolutionary genetics, and linking leaf optical spectra to plant functional traits and phylogenetics.

Nick Deacon

I am leading a project funded by the National Park Service on the Genetic diversity, ecological niches, and vulnerability to climate change of Aspen trees throughout the midwest with specific focus on relict stands within the Niobrara Scenic River National Park.

Ph.D. students

Beth Fallon

Understanding the influence of climate on current tree ranges will help us to envision future landscapes. I use field and greenhouse experiments in oaks to examine the influence of plant physiological limitations (cold and drought resistances) on species ranges at both local and large scales: elevation limits in semi-arid mountains and species ranges among warm region American oaks.

Laura Williams

Forests are complex systems made of many parts – trees, birds, insects, soil microbes, and more – that interact, change and adapt. My research examines the fascinating complexity of trees and forests, revealing insights that improve our ability to understand, manage and sustain Earth’s systems. Most recently, I have harnessed an international network of tree diversity experiments to investigate how the architecture and physiology of trees can be shaped by the composition of tree communities. This work untangles how both inherent and plastic differences among trees have consequences for how trees interact, grow and function together as forests.

Jake Grossman

Using planted tree diversity experiments and common gardens at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, I explore how biodiversity across phylogenetic scales affects ecosystem structure and function in temperate forests. With Nick Deacon, I am also using molecular and physiological methods to characterize the identity of and assess the vulnerability to drought and freezing of upper Midwestern aspens species. Currently, I am a consultant at Minnesota's Center for Writing, where I work with diverse writers at all academic levels to develop and express their ideas. I am passionate about working with people from many walks of life. Fostering diversity, inclusion, and equity in science motivates me in all my work. When not in the classroom, field, or lab, I like to read, cook, run, and explore the dog parks of Minneapolis with my partner and our border collie-cocker spaniel mix, Pancho.

Jen Teshera-Levye

I am interested in understanding the functional roles that variation in vein architecture plays in the ecology and physiology of plants.

Shan Kothari

I am using hyperspectral data at both the leaf and canopy scales, as an enabling technology, to measure the ecological determinants of variation in leaf chemistry and canopy architecture in diverse plant assemblages.