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We have funding for graduate and undergraduate students
Sarah McCarthy-Neumann, Ph.D.
Principle Investigator
Principle Investigator
I am a forest ecologist whose research (both greenhouse and field based) focuses on plant-soil feedbacks as a mechanism for shaping community composition, structure and productivity of temperate and tropical forests. In particular, I am interested in feedbacks between plants and their soil community (both damping-off and mycorrhizal fungi as well as abiotic mediated feedbacks) and the impact that these feedbacks can have on maintenance of tree species diversity, exotic plant invasions as well as native species shifting range boundaries due to climate change. I also investigate how abiotic factors (e.g. climate, light, soil fertility or moisture) can impact the occurrence or strength of these feedbacks. I use a mechanistic approach in my research to investigate the causes or processes underlying patterns occurring at the community level.
CURRENT MEMBERS
Katherine Wood
Ph.D. Student
Ph.D. Student
Katherine is a doctoral student at Michigan State University and is dual-advised by Dr. Sarah McCarthy-Neumann and Dr. Richard Kobe. She had an anticipated defense date in summer 2022 and will graduate with a dual-Ph.D. in the Department of Forestry and the Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. For her dissertation, she investigated how light availability and soil-borne microbes mediate tree seedling defense and recovery traits, and how those traits then mediate tree seedling survival.
Since fall 2021, she has worked as a postdoctoral fellow in silviculture and applied forest ecology with the USDA Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station in Davis, CA, funded through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.
Since fall 2021, she has worked as a postdoctoral fellow in silviculture and applied forest ecology with the USDA Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station in Davis, CA, funded through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.
Maria (Izzy) Schutte
M.S. Student
M.S. Student
Izzy is a graduate student at Tennessee State University in the Environmental Sciences program and is advised by Dr. Sarah McCarthy-Neumann. Her thesis work is on plant-soil feedback mechanisms and the role they play in oak-hickory forests. Additional research interests include ecological restoration and invasive plant species.
