My research integrates microbial ecology and biogeochemistry, evaluating how soil microbial communities function and, in turn, regulate ecosystem-scale processes, particularly soil carbon dynamics. My focus is on bridging scales—when does fine-scale information add insight to larger-scale science and how to use models to integrate insights from the different scales. Primary research areas have been the Arctic in Alaska and Greenland, and in dry Mediterranean ecosystems of California, environments that are stressed by low water availability and wetting/drying cycles. I've has published >200 papers and am the author of "Writing Science" and of "Your Future on the Faculty," both published by Oxford University Press. I am an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow, a Fellow in the Ecological Society of America, and a recipient of the Career Achievement Award from the Soil Ecology Society.
Research
Soils are crucial for life on earth, helping regulate the global climate on a planetary scale, and supporting many important ecosystem services on local scales. Carbon and nitrogen cycling are two important processes in soil that can affect the function of soil on many scales. In the Schimel Lab, we study how natural gradients and human activity control C and N cycling in soil. We are particularly interested in understanding controls on the biology and activity of soil microbes, as these microbes are key drivers of soil C and N cycling. We combine experimental and observational studies with theoretical modeling to connect biology and chemistry at microbial scales to landscape-scale functions of soils and ecosystems. Our study systems range from the grasslands of California to the artic tundra to farms in Ireland.
Education
- PhD, microbial ecology; soil biology; ecosystem ecology, UC Berkeley
Courses Taught
- ENV S 142: Microbes and the Human Environment
- ENV S 171: Ecosystem Processes