Megonigal, Patrick (Curriculum Vitae)
Senior Scientist (PI)
443-482-2346
megonigalp@si.edu

My research concerns soil carbon biogeochemisty with an emphasis on wetlands and responses to global climate change. I am currently directing studies on the effects of elevated CO₂ and nitrogen on soil carbon storage, plant-microbe interactions that regulate iron-respiration and methane production, and microbial metabolism of colored dissolved organic carbon exported from tidal marshes. I am Lead Curator of an exhibition on soils that opens in the National Museum of Natural History in July 2008.

Keller, Jason (Curriculum Vitae)
Post Doctoral Fellow
443-482-2351
kellerj@si.edu

I am interested in the decomposition of organic matter to CO2 and CH4 (two important greenhouse gases) in wetland ecosystems.  Key questions in my research include: (1) What factors control the relative contribution of fermentation, iron reduction, sulfate reduction and methanogenesis to anaerobic carbon mineralization; (2) Will ongoing global change alter these processes?; and (3)  How do rates of carbon mineralization relate to microbial community structure in wetlands?

Langley, Adam (Curriculum Vitae)
Post Doctoral Fellow
443-482-2355
langleya@si.edu

I am interested in how ecosystem cycles respond to, and may feed back to, global change. The most complex and uncertain responses occur in the rhizosphere where plant roots interact intimately with soil microbes. My graduate research focused on how mycorrhizal fungi (root symbionts) mediate effects of global change on soil carbon cycling. I am currently exploring how elevated CO₂ influences carbon sequestration and nitrogen retention in salt marsh soils.

McKinley, Duncan (Curriculum Vitae)
Post Doctoral Fellow
443-482-2475 mckinleyd@si.edu

I am interested in feedbacks between nutrient cycling and plant productivity on C storage, particularly in response to global environmental change. My graduate work addressed changes in biogeochemistry due to rapid encroachment of coniferous forest in mesic grassland. I currently study the effects of elevated CO₂ on soil N cycling and C storage.  In particular, I am addressing the role of deep soil nutrient availability in alleviating plant nutrient constraints, and ultimately, whole ecosystem responses to elevated CO₂.

Research Staff

Sigrist, Marc
Research Technician
443-482-2304
sigristm@si.edu