Scientists

Structure and function of boreal forests, successional processes following catastrophic disturbances, effects of changing environment conditions (including global warming) on forest ecosystem processes, modeling of forest ecosystem dynamics at the ecosystem and landscape perspectives.

I am interested in the dynamics of coastal ecosystems--how do systems function, and how human activities impact that function. I work primarily in stream and lake systems. Although my focus is generally on food webs, I draw from multiple perspectives, applying theories and approaches from evolutionary, ecosystem, food-web, and community ecology viewpoints.

Our research focuses on important conceptual questions that inform forest management and conservation. We integrate field studies of plant communities with statistical modeling to understand how local processes (e.g., disturbance and succession) interact with regional processes (e.g., climate change, migration and invasion) to influence forest structure and function. These studies are used to design silvicultural systems and prescriptions that balance multiple objectives (e.g., ecological restoration, biodiversity maintenance, climate change adaptation and mitigation).

Late Quaternary climate. Cause and consequence of abrupt climate change in the geologic record. Evolution of the tropical Pacific climate & the El Nino-Southern Oscillation since the last glacial period. Relationship between ENSO and the mean climate state.

Professor Wu's research areas include the optimal design of agri-environmental policy, the spatial modeling of land use change and its impacts on economic and environmental systems, and the analysis of rural-urban interdependencies and causes of spatial variations in economic development.

Dr. Kohfeld is interested in understanding natural variability and biogeochemical linkages within the ocean and climate system, in order to better assess earth system responses to anthropogenic perturbations. Her research focuses on natural and anthropogenic changes in the ocean carbon cycle, the influence of climate and land surface conditions on atmospheric dust, and assessing and adapting to extreme weather conditions in British Columbia.

Research interests are conservation issues surrounding climate-related research that assess changes to ecosystems and wildlife. Current interest is assessing how sea-level rise and storms impact salt marsh ecosystems and local wildlife populations.

Kathie Dello is the Associate Director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute and the Deputy Director of the Oregon Climate Service, which is the state climate office for Oregon. She is interested in working in the science/policy interface, and frequently visits and consults with local, state, and federal agencies around the region on a variety of climate and water issues.

My research is mainly centered around trophic interactions between organisms. This involves dietary composition, feeding habits and consumption rates of invertebrates, macroalgal-herbivore interactions, stable isotope analysis of food web structures etc. It also involves chemical defenses of macroalgae and invertebrates against grazers and predators. I am generally interested in shallow water community diversity, dynamics and ecology, especially in both polar regions, and in deep-sea communities. Most of my shallow water work uses scientific diving as a research tool.

Alternative futures for Skagit and Kitsap Counties, Washington State. Assessment of Hydrologic and Water Quality Response to Intensive Cellulosic Biofuel Silviculture. Watershed hydrology and modeling, implications of evolving land use patterns and climate change, alternative futures analyses for land use planning and sustainability, Geographic Information Systems and simulation of environmental processes.

Population genetics, wildlife biology, molecular systematics, and waterfowl.

Kirk Krueger has been a research scientist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Habitat Program, Habitat Assessment Section since 2003. His area of expertise is the intersection of statistical modeling and sampling methods with remotely sensed data and fish ecology. In that position he has been able to assist with research on the Intensively Monitored Watersheds Project that is assessing the effectiveness of stream restoration to increase salmon production. He has also helped conduct stream geomorphology and other research.

Genetics applications in wildlife research and management, population ecology of large mammals, conservation genetics of Arabian megafauna, phylogeography of Beringian megafauna, landscape genetics of wildlife.

Lara's research focuses on Arctic marine mammals because of their cultural and nutritional importance to subsistence users, the Arctic is undergoing noticeable change, and planned oil and gas development is happening in that habitat.