University of Michigan
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

EEB graduate student Susan Cheng was awarded a two-year Graham Doctoral Sustainability Fellowship for 2012 for her proposal, "Can forest carbon sequestration be sustained under climate change? Coupling atmospheric and ecological sciences to inform forest management."  

The project is based at the U-M Biological Station investigating how forest carbon uptake will change as forest communities and atmospheric conditions shift under changing climate. “I will be using NASA's remotely-sensed atmospheric data, UMBS ecosystem-level measurements, and field-collected tree cores to study how light and water limitations influence forest carbon uptake.”

“As a fellow, I'm also hoping to organize a workshop that will bring Michigan foresters, Graham Fellows, and natural and social scientists together to discuss reciprocal needs, transfer knowledge, and inform future forest management.”

Cheng will receive up to $50,000 over two years. Cheng is working with Professor Knute Nadelhoffer, director of UMBS, collaborators from The Ohio State University, and Professor Allison Steiner from U-M's Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Science.

The Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute is a collaborative partnership of schools, colleges and units across U-M. The institute fosters cross-disciplinary collaboration to create and disseminate knowledge and to offer solutions related to complex sustainability issues. On a broader scale, the Graham Doctoral Fellowship Program helps to create a community of scholars, wherein the fellows can collaborate, engage, and interact during their doctoral studies and into the future. During the fellows' time on campus, academic associations are cultivated through monthly seminars, annual retreats, workshops, and other Graham-sponsored forums.