The Ecosystem Ecology Laboratory
PI of the Ecosystem Ecology Lab
PhD, Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, 2004
BA, Biological Sciences, Smith College, 1995
Assistant professor, University of Tennessee, 2008-
Staff scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2005-08
Post doctoral fellow - ORNL
Hector is interested in environmental microbiology, soil microbial ecology and molecular microbial ecology; predominantly targeting the molecular, biochemical, and ecological aspects of the microbial geochemical element cycles in uplands soils and wetlands.
Hector Castro
PhD student - started 2008
Emily is interested in wood decaying fungi, community assembly, and diversity effects on the carbon cycle. She is is co-advised by Chris Schadt.
Emily Austin
Department Of Energy GREF fellow
PhD candidate - started 2007
Melissa is interested in the effects of climate change (specifically changes in precipitation) on soil bacterial and fungal communities.
PhD student associate - Lindroth Lab Wisconsin - DOE GREF fellow in the Classen lab
Chris is is broadly interested in the interactions between vertebrates, plants, and ecosystem processes. He is specifically interested in how small mammals respond to and mediate the effects of global change.
PhD student- started 2008
Nick is interested in understanding linkages among soils, arthropods, plants, and nutrient cycling. Nick has a MS degree from UT where he worked on HWA outbreaks.
W. Nick Reynolds
Jaime Call
Undergraduate researcher
Jaime is interested in what structures soils.
Haley Smith
Lab and Field Manager/ Technician
Post-doctoral fellows
Graduate students
Field & Lab Manager
Undergraduate Researchers
Post doctoral fellow
Lara is broadly trained as a plant ecologist. She is heading up a recently funded Solidago genes to ecosystems project in collaboration with David Weston, Nate Sanders, and Greg Crutsinger.
Undergraduate researcher - started 2009
Lauren is working with us on the Solidago genotypic diversity project examining how plant genetic identity may influence production and NEE. Lauren was awarded a grant for the summer to conduct this work and is writing up her data for publication.
Lauren Breza
Undergraduate honors researcher - started 2009
Phoebe is working on the P16 project examining how soil nutrients and insect herbivory may interact to shape soil microbial communities. Phoebe was awarded a grant for the summer to conduct this work and is writing up her data for her honors thesis and for publication.
Phoebe Wright
Undergraduate researcher- started 2009
Heather is broadly interested in ecology. She has been helping work on the Solidago project.
Heather Tran
Post doctoral fellow - ORNL
Marie-Anne is interested in determining the impact of elevated atmospheric CO2 on ecological processes occurring at the plant-soil interface.
Marie-Anne De Graaff
Undergraduate researcher- started 2009
Anna is an environmental sciences major at UT. She just started working with our group as an intern this fall. She will be working on a project looking at how plant genotype can influence aphid population dynamics.
Anna Proffit
