University of Michigan
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Global change biology and sustainability involves study of the profound effects of human activities on ecological systems through modifications of the physical environment, climate system, disturbance regime, and through extinctions and introductions of biota, as well as investigations on how to manage ecological systems for long-term sustainability.

• Vincent Denef:
  • Vincent Denef uses metagenomic and metaproteomic approaches to gather an improved understanding of microbial population dynamics and community functioning within ecosystem context. He is particularly interested in the connection between genomic variation and altered ecological behavior, and how short- and long-term environmental change can drive both. While he has been studying these concepts in systems ranging from abandoned mines to the human gastrointestinal tract, he is currently focusing on freshwater systems such as the Laurentian Great Lakes.
• Christopher Dick:
  • Christopher Dick is interested in the ecology and evolutionary history of species-rich tropical forests. His research has focused primarily on phylogeny, phylogeography and population genetics of Neotropical trees. He is also eager to collaborate on projects involving temperate forest trees.
• Deborah Goldberg:
  • Deborah Goldberg's research focuses on the mechanisms and consequences of community dynamics, including mechanisms of invasion and coexistence, plant-soil feedbacks, ecology of clonal plants, community and ecosystem response to climate change, and ecology of the human microbiome.
• Mark Hunter:
  • Mark Hunter's research interests include plant-animal interactions, ecosystem ecology, biodiversity, and population dynamics. His research links population processes with ecosystem processes in terrestrial environments and explores the mitigation of global environmental change.
• Inés Ibáñez:
  • Inés Ibáñez's research interests are in plant community ecology, climate change and invasive species.
• John Lehman:
  • John Lehman's research interests are in limnology, aquatic science, nutrient and trophic dynamics.
• Phil Myers:
  • Philip Myers' research focuses on the rapid and profound change in the composition of small mammal communities in the northern Great Lakes Region. He is also interested in the drivers of the change, including climate, and their ultimate effects on Great Lakes forest ecosystems.
• Knute Nadelhoffer:
  • Knute Nadelhoffer's research interests are in ecosystem ecology, terrestrial biogeochemistry and global change.
• Mercedes Pascual:
  • Mercedes Pascual is interested in climate change and infectious disease dynamics, especially malaria. She is also interested in how climate variability influences the dynamics of vector-borne and water-borne diseases at interannual time scales.
• John Vandermeer:
  • John Vandermeer's lab engages in two related classes of research – the structure and function of tropical agroecosystems and the ecological theory of complex systems as applied to agroecosystems generally. Work in tropical agroecosystems is mainly concerned with organic coffee production, focusing on a model system of pest control in a large production facility in southern Mexico. Theoretical work focuses on spatial self-organization and its consequences for the structure of ecological networks.
• Donald Zak:
  • Donald Zak's work draws on ecology, microbiology, and biochemistry and is focused at several scales of understanding, ranging from the molecular to the ecosystem scale. Current research centers on understanding the link between plant and microbial activity within terrestrial ecosystems, and the influence climate change may have on these dynamics. Teaching includes courses in soil ecology and ecosystem ecology.

Italics = secondary appointment in EEB, can serve as graduate co-chair only