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
Eli Ward

Doctoral Candidate, 5th year

My research focuses on plant-soil interactions and their effects on carbon and nitrogen cycling and storage in forests. Specifically, my work investigates feedbacks between invasive plants, soil nutrient availability, and disturbance as well as the influence of mycorrhizal functional types on soil biogeochemical processes. Many of the systems that I work in are strongly influenced by human use, such as urbanization and forest management, and I am particularly interested in applications of my research for conservation and restoration.

email . Personal website

Kristy M. Ferraro

Doctoral Candidate, 5th year

I am interested in the ecosystem services 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 migratory mammals on soil dynamics, nutrient cycles, and carbon storage through both field experiments and models.

email

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

Karam Sheban
Doctoral Student, 1st 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.