As an ecosystem ecologist, I study how the cycle of life and death influences forest structure and changes over time. A walk in the woods might illuminate the forest’s dynamism as you observe squirrels tending to their buried acorn caches and listen to woodpeckers feasting on grubs. In contrast, the plant community may appear more… Read more »
Hi ScIU Readers! I co-authored this blog post written for an audience of scientists with Vijay Limaye, Ph.D., for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s blog (and cross-posted on the Union of Concerned Scientists’ blog), but I think the topic is important and highly relevant to all scientists, scientists in training, and science allies so I… Read more »
In May, graduate student Saskia Klink and faculty member Johanna Pausch, both from the University of Bayreuth in Germany, visited the Phillips Lab in the Indiana University Biology Department to collaborate on a project with me. In our increasingly interconnected and globalized world, such international collaborations in scientific research are becoming more and more common…. Read more »
Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in our atmosphere continue to rise, and global warming has transitioned from a possible future phenomenon to a present environmental reality. Given this reality, scientists are motivated to improve calculations of how much carbon there is on Earth and how it flows from the biosphere to the atmosphere and back to… Read more »
This is a story about the fundamental underpinnings of biology, but it starts with a story about baking brownies. What do brownies and biology have to do with one another you ask? Well, let’s begin. First, I must introduce you to my dad, the World’s Best Brownie Eater. He’s the kind of guy who… Read more »
Did you and your grade school friends ever find yourselves in intricate negotiations around the lunch table, trading that boring snack your mom packed you with the sweeter and more enticing dessert in your friend’s lunchbox? Well, similar to you and your childhood friends, plants also partake in such a trading of commodities around their… Read more »
