Christine Goodale, Cornell University

Associate Professor Ithaca, New York clg33@cornell.edu Office: (607) 254-4211

Expert In

Acid deposition Biogeochemistry Carbon cycle Climate change Ecosystem ecology Forest ecosystems Forests role in clean water Forests role in regulating greenhouse gases Human activities on forest ecosystems Land-use change Nitrogen retention Watersheds

Bio/Research

My research centers on understanding the effects of human activities on forest ecosystems, as well as the role of forests in sustaining clean water and regulating atmospheric greenhouse gases. I study processes that affect forest cycling and storage of carbon and nitrogen, focusing on how these cycles interact and respond to human-driven changes in climate, land use, and atmospheric chemistry, with particular emphasis on the response of ecosystems to atmospheric deposition of N from air pollution. Nitrogen emitted through fossil fuel combustion and agricultural activities eventually deposits onto downwind ecosystems: much of the work in my lab focuses on understanding the mechanisms by which ecosystems retain or remove these elevated N inputs, and the consequences of these N inputs on ecosystem processes. These consequences include acidification of soils and streams, shifts in species composition, changes in the rates of growth and decomposition, and production of smog and multiple greenhouse gases that have large effects on future climate. Working with a range of collaborators, my lab group uses a range of tools to address many of these processes, at scales ranging from microbial decomposition in soil cores, to plot-scale measurements of isotopic tracers, to whole-catchment recovery from acid rain, to modeled dynamics of N effects on regional carbon storage and the earth climate system.

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