Lab Member Profiles

Faculty
Mark Bradford

My work spans questions that address uncertainties in Earth system feedbacks to quantifying soil health outcomes and forest processes. I am primarily interested in how organisms and their interactions affect decomposition and soil carbon stocks. Increasingly my work is focused on quantifying the effects of agircultural and forest management, to build evidence that supports actions to improve environmental stewardship. 

email . Personal Website . Google Scholar profile . ResearcherID . Yale Applied Science Synthesis Program

Mail: Yale School of the Environment, 195 Prospect St., New Haven, CT 06511, USA

Office: Kroon Hall 202

Lab: Greeley 106

Research Scientists
Steve Wood

Steve is a soil scientist in the Global Lands team of The Nature Conservancy and has a joint appointment as an Associate Research Scientist at Yale F&ES. He is working to develop cutting-edge science to support soil activities across The Nature Conservancy. He has an interdisciplinary background, with degrees in ecology, economics, and philosophy. Steve’s topical expertise is in soil and ecosystem ecology, sustainable agriculture, sustainability science, and statistical modeling.

email

Postdocs and Fellows
Fiona Jevon

I am a forest ecologist who likes to ask questions about the link between above-ground and below-ground processes. I’m interested in the feedbacks that exist between plants and their associated soil microbial communities, as well as the relationship between plant traits and carbon cycling.

email . Personal Website

Graduate Students
Kristy M. Ferraro

Doctoral Candidate, 6th year

I am interested in the ecosystem contributions provided by large mammals as well as the impacts of local or regional extinction. Working between the Bradford Lab and the Schmitz Lab, I explore the impact of northern mammals on soil dynamics, nutrient cycles, and carbon storage through both field experiments and models.

email; website

Alexander Polussa

Doctoral Candidate, 4th year

How are micro-organisms interacting with plants, macro-organisms, nutrients, and each other? I look at how bacterial and fungal activity influences the micro-environment and, in-turn, the broader ecosystem!

email

Jon Gewirtzman

Doctoral Candidate, 4th Year I am interested in how ecosystems influence and are influenced by global biogeochemical cycles in our era of rapid environmental change. Working with the Bradford and Raymond Labs, my research examines greenhouse gas uptake and release in upland and lowland ecosystems from the scales of microbes to landscapes, with a particular focus on methane emission from trees and the role of the tree microbiome.

email; Personal website

Karam Sheban

Doctoral Student, 2nd year

I am a new doctoral student, focused on connecting applied science on forest management to positive economic and environmental outcomes. My current work focuses on forest farming (understory herbs) and agroforestry.

email 

Jack Hatajik

MESc Student, 1st Year

I am interested in studying the impacts of non-endemic invasive species and anthropogenic human disturbance on temperate forest ecosystems. I am researching how invasive plants and insects impact forest community dynamics and how we can mitigate the effects of these introductions. I aim to research these topics in a framework centered on collaboration with local stakeholders and the communities most directly affected.

email

Janey Lienau

Doctoral student, first year I’m interested in exploring how small animals in and around the soil contribute to ecological processes such as decomposition, nutrient cycling, and carbon storage. Specifically, I’ve been exploring how predacious ground beetles influence nitrogen availability in eastern temperate forests.

email website