Research

Methane Emissions from Tropical Wetlands and Freshwaters

Tropical wetlands and freshwaters are among the largest and most uncertain sources of methane emissions. I am working on projects to fill critical knowledge gaps about the magnitude of and controls on methane emissions across the tropics.

My latest work showed that microbes that consume methane are a critical control on methane release from freshwaters draining tropical peatlands.

Natural Climate Solutions

Via my NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship I am collaborating with researchers from Tanjungpura University and Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara in Indonesia to understand the potential of ecosystems restoration to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from degraded tropical peatlands.

Recently, we found that increasing the water level in oil palm plantations on peat reduces carbon dioxide emissions from decomposition, with no associated increase in methane emissions!

Methane Cycling and Emissions in Northern Wetlands

I have used a variety of approaches including field emissions measurements, incubations, stable isotope analyses, and microbiome sequencing to understand how methane emissions from northern wetlands will respond as the climate warms and precipitation patterns shift.

Check out my papers focused on permafrost thaw, drought, and controls on methane cycling across spatially heterogeneous wetlands.