We investigate how ecosystem responses to global change drivers are mediated by biotic processes. Specifically, we study how ecosystem function is influenced by mutualisms, competition, consumers, and alterations in abiotic resource availability. Projects in our lab examine a diverse suite of global change drivers, such as nutrient deposition and runoff, consumer loss, altered climatic regimes, and species invasions. We use a variety of techniques to investigate ecosystem responses to global change agents, including long-term experiments, observational data collection, and statistical data synthesis.
We work across a broad range of sites within the United States, studying species invasions in California grasslands, rangeland sustainability in Montana, Wyoming, and Kansas, grassland dynamics in Kansas, forest dynamics in Maryland, and soybean agriculture in Maryland.
Recent Happenings:
May 2025: The lab group had so many great accomplishments during the 2024-2025 academic year! Kelly Clark received a Hayes Fellowship for her first year of graduate school, Elise Grabda received a McIver Inclusiveness Fellowship, Elise also received both the Monroe and Weaver grants for her research, Ryan Hargrove and Elliot Tubreville both received URCA funding for their summer research, Millie Ortiz successfully defended her Master's thesis, Olivia Kjuka and Elise Grabda successfully proposed their thesis/dissertations, and we had lots of papers accepted/published over the course of the year! Way to go team!
May 9, 2025: Congratulations to our lab graduates! Millie Ortiz (MS) and many undergraduate students, Holly Cha, Leslie DeCuesta, Alexis Dodd, Layla Eglin, ZaNay Forney, and Yoseph Sabek!
May 2025: The lab shared our mutualism science with elementary students at Piney Grove and people of all ages at UNCG's Science Everywhere and Greensboro's first ever STEMFest this spring!
May 2, 2025: Elise Grabda successfully defended her PhD proposal "Four Tiers of Shrub Encroachment", investigating shrub encroachment into grasslands from a variety of scales.
April 29, 2025: Olivia Kjuka successfully defended her Master's proposal investigating the effects of microplastics on soybean, leaf beetles, and parasitic wasp tri-trophic interactions. Cool preliminary results are coming in hot and we can't wait to see the full greenhouse experiment this summer!
April 10, 2025: Congratulations to Master Millie Ortiz for successfully defending her Master's thesis on the indirect effects of fire on grassland invertebrates!
March 2025: Elise Grabda was awarded a Weaver grant from the Nature Conservancy to set up a biodiversity experiment investigating biotic resistance to shrubs at the Plant and Pollinator Center, congrats Elise!
March 4, 2025: Kim Komatsu shares the good and the bad about insects in the UNCG Sustainability Lecture & Dialogue series.
December 2024: Congratulations to our December graduates, Elijah Resuello and Stephanie Besa! Read about Elijah's journey in our lab and at UNCG here.
May 9, 2025: Congratulations to our lab graduates! Millie Ortiz (MS) and many undergraduate students, Holly Cha, Leslie DeCuesta, Alexis Dodd, Layla Eglin, ZaNay Forney, and Yoseph Sabek!
May 2025: The lab shared our mutualism science with elementary students at Piney Grove and people of all ages at UNCG's Science Everywhere and Greensboro's first ever STEMFest this spring!
May 2, 2025: Elise Grabda successfully defended her PhD proposal "Four Tiers of Shrub Encroachment", investigating shrub encroachment into grasslands from a variety of scales.
April 29, 2025: Olivia Kjuka successfully defended her Master's proposal investigating the effects of microplastics on soybean, leaf beetles, and parasitic wasp tri-trophic interactions. Cool preliminary results are coming in hot and we can't wait to see the full greenhouse experiment this summer!
April 10, 2025: Congratulations to Master Millie Ortiz for successfully defending her Master's thesis on the indirect effects of fire on grassland invertebrates!
March 2025: Elise Grabda was awarded a Weaver grant from the Nature Conservancy to set up a biodiversity experiment investigating biotic resistance to shrubs at the Plant and Pollinator Center, congrats Elise!
March 4, 2025: Kim Komatsu shares the good and the bad about insects in the UNCG Sustainability Lecture & Dialogue series.
December 2024: Congratulations to our December graduates, Elijah Resuello and Stephanie Besa! Read about Elijah's journey in our lab and at UNCG here.
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