research overview
- My position at Cornell as a Senior Research Associate is research-based and does not currently have a teaching or extension component. The overarching theme of my research efforts is understanding the controls on biogeochemical processes that are key in the cycling of major nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) in aquatic ecosystems, and the effects of land use change and other human perturbations on biogeochemical processes and eutrophication in estuaries. I am currently participating on several projects with faculty from Cornell and other universities and research centers, focusing on different aspects the ecosystem-level consequences of alteration of nitrogen and other element cycles by humans. I am also very interested in the communication of science addressing ecological problems to the public and to policy-makers. I participated in the North American Nitrogen Center Initiative (Cornell Professor R. W. Howarth, director), a science body created by the International Council of Scientific Unions to analyze and communicate the issues of human acceleration of the nitrogen cycle to the public and to decision makers, and to help in developing policy options for control of nitrogen pollution. I am involved in science education, outreach, and participation at the local government level, and served on the Town Board of my municipality from 2004 through 2007, as well on as the County-level advisory board on water resources issues. I am currently the Supervisor of my municipality (2010 - 2013) in addition to my research position at Cornell.