The Breathing of the Earth

We study the living interface between the solid Earth and its atmosphere, including exchanges of carbon, water, and energy at the vegetated land surface. Some of us are atmospheric scientists, some are ecologists, and some are both.

One important emphasis is on using atmospheric observations to understand the global carbon cycle. A fundamental question behind much of our work is to understand the processes by which terrestrial ecosystems sequester about 25% of anthropogenic CO2.

Our research involves the development and application of simulation models of these interactions across a wide variety of spatial and temporal scales to apply the strongest possible observational constraints on the carbon budget of the atmosphere. We emphasize the “fusion” of modeling and data analysis to understand natural processes.