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Dr. Praveen Kumar is the Lovell Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, U.S.A.  What does ecohydrology mean to you?
Ecosystems are both a response to and regulators of prevailing climate and associated precipitation patterns in a region. They are also important mediators of soil and microbial structure and composition, as they partition both incident precipitation and radiant energy, thereby creating the moisture and thermal regime above and below the ground. Ecohydrology aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the complex dependencies between the water cycle and vegetation processes, together with the associated linkages to soil composition, geochemical environment, and supporting microbial functions. What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in? I got my B.Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India (1987), M.S. from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, (1989) and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1993), all in Civil Engineering. How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology? Both my M.S. and Ph.D. thesis were in the exploration of the nature of spatio-temporal variability in rainfall. During my Postdoc at NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, I had the opportunity to begin the exploration of the impact of climate change on terrestrial systems. Subsequently, after arriving at the University of Illinois in 1995, I continued this research theme. It became increasingly more evident that the linkage between vegetation and water cycle was crucial not just from the perspective of water and energy partitioning that impact climate dynamics, but also understanding the impact of climate change on terrestrial systems. Subsequent research led to important realization that while increased CO2 impacts vegetation processes through precipitation and temperature, it also directly affects the ecophysiological response of vegetation which further impacts moisture and energy dynamics. Research in critical zone science over the past decade has unraveled further dependencies with soil processes. So thinking and working in ecohydrology has been an evolution in the understanding and appreciation of complexity of dependencies. What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology? My group has been working on several fronts in this field. First, we have been exploring the role of hydraulic redistribution, a process by which plant roots move the water from wet to dry soil regions in both upward and downward directions, in regulating several processes such as evapotranspiration, nutrient dynamics in the soil, interaction between multiple vegetation species that co-exists in the same environment (such as overstory and understory vegetation), and influence of root access to ground water resources. Second, we have developed models to characterize the acclimation response of vegetation to increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. This acclimation response, manifested as structural, biochemical, and ecophysiological changes subsequently impact the water and energy partitioning and also their productivity and resilience to climate variability and change. Third, through modeling we are learning that vegetation plays an active role in regulating their soil environment through exudation of chemicals through the roots. These chemicals bring about changes to the microbial population and associated functions, and they also impact the below-ground biogeochemistry including weathering and subsequently stream chemistry. Finally, we are exploring the role of thermodynamics in shaping ecosystem structure and function, and their related role in hydroclimatological dynamics. Through these studies it has become clear that the linkages between the water cycle and ecosystem processes are intertwined across many time scales. I believe that unravelling these dependencies across time scales and coupled spatial scales, particularly in light of climate and anthropogenic drivers, is an important challenge. Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper? Describe/explain. As I explained earlier, my interest in the field has evolved from more narrow view of coupling between water and ecosystem to subsequently include climate impacts of change in variability in precipitation and temperature, leading further to acclimation response of elevated CO2, and then to critical zone perspective leading to dependencies across multiple time scales and processes. At the early stage of the research over two-three decades ago, the pioneering works of Peter Eagleson and Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbe provided foundational principles. However, the field has become far more intricate and I encourage students to develop their own literature-based synthesis that more closely follows the specific problems they are pursuing. What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)? Anything science! I have a broad interest in science, and I like to read broadly. I am intrigued by concepts, ideas, and principles that pervade across multiple scientific fields. I also love photography. Much to the chagrin of my family, I am always slowing everyone down by stopping to take pictures on our trips. I also enjoy travel and the present job has offered plenty of opportunity to see places across the globe. Dr. Carolyn Voter is a Wisconsin Water Resources Science-Policy Fellow at University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. As of January 2022, she will be an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at the University of Delaware.  What does ecohydrology mean to you?
To me, ecohydrology focuses on the movement of water across many different spheres – groundwater, the vadose zone, surface water, vegetation, and the atmosphere – with special emphasis on the bidirectional interactions between water and living components of the ecosystem, including humans. What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in? B.S. in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology? I’ve known since high school that I wanted my future career to have a strong connection to the environment, but it took a bit of exploration before I arrived at ecohydrology. Through undergraduate research experiences and internships, I tested out a few different directions I could go (think: drinking water treatment, environmental remediation) but eventually became involved in planning and baseline monitoring for a stream restoration on campus. I had been taking classes in conservation biology and ecosystem ecology on top of my civil engineering coursework, and the world of stream restoration really clicked with me. I followed this new interest to graduate school at UW-Madison, where I worked with Dr. Steve Loheide – a truly fantastic mentor. Upon arriving, I quickly shifted my focus to urban ecohydrology and in my current fellowship, have expanded to explore ecohydrology as it pertains to lake-groundwater interactions in agricultural regions. I continue to be interested in how humans intentionally and unintentionally alter ecohydrologic processes and how we can adjust our behavior to better support more sustainable and resilient communities. What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology? I’m intrigued by what could come from pairing human behavior modeling with studies of ecohydrologic processes in human-dominated landscapes (e.g., urban, agricultural). At this point, many of our studies are aimed at understanding what the “best” management solutions are from an ecohydrologic perspective, without always accounting for how humans are most likely to behave. I look forward to seeing how our understanding of the “most effective” strategies may change as we improve how well we integrate humans into our studies of ecohydrologic processes. Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper? Describe/explain. One paper I’ve been spending a lot of time with lately is “The ecological limits of hydrologic alteration (ELOHA): a new framework for developing regional environmental flow standards” by Poff et al. (2010). It’s not exactly a hidden gem – I’m sure many people are very familiar with it. But I really admire the effort made in this paper to offer clear, concrete suggestions for management while acknowledging and respecting the uncertainty in our understanding of ecohydrologic relationships. I am often struck by what a delicate tightrope walk this is and I anticipate that honing my own sense of balance in this area will be a long, ongoing process. What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)? I enjoy reading a mix of fantasy, cozy mysteries, and non-fiction books. I’m a big fan of board games and I’m excited for a post-COVID return to evenings of dinner & games with friends. And I also enjoy getting outside by running, biking and walking or hiking with my dog. Tom Glose is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Kansas Geological Survey working with Sam Zipper and Jim Butler. Twitter: @tomglose  What does ecohydrology mean to you?
I like to think of ecohydrology as an ever evolving interdisciplinary field that focuses on the complex interactions and feedbacks between hydrological and ecological systems across various temporal and spatial scales. What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in? I have a B.A. in Geophysics and a minor in Math from SUNY Geneseo and a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the University at Buffalo. How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology? I owe the beginning of my working in geology (and subsequently ecohydrology) to my older sister who encouraged me to initially pursue research in geology as an undergraduate and then to pursue research in hydrogeology as a graduate student. My undergraduate research was focused on using paleomagnetism to investigate pluton emplacement in the Henry Mountains, Utah. When applying to graduate schools, I read some intriguing papers by Dr. Chris Lowry, who ended up being my Ph.D. advisor, focused on groundwater-dependent ecosystems and I decided to switch my focus to hydrogeology. My Ph.D. research was focused on using temperature as an environmental tracer to investigate groundwater-surface water interactions in rivers and streams where I started to see the interconnection between hydrogeology and the surrounding ecosystems, which is when I started to consider myself an ecohydrologist. I pivoted slightly with my postdoctoral research where I am now researching the long-term implications of groundwater management strategies on heavily stressed aquifers. What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology? The impact that people have on water resources and the subsequent changes to ecosystems as a result is something that I think is and will continue to be important especially as the effects of climate change intensify. Changes in the timing and volume of peak streamflow, increased groundwater depletion, and increased urbanization all have cascading effects that impact ecosystems that are sometimes overlooked or unanticipated and need to be considered moving forward. Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper? Describe/explain. I really like the Boano et al. 2014 paper “Hyporheic flow and transport processes: Mechanisms, models, and biogeochemical implications”. This review covers the important and extensive role that the hyporheic zone plays in fluvial environments and its significance to stream and riparian ecology. Exchanges between groundwater and surface water are responsible for processes ranging from carbon and nutrient cycling to regulating stream temperature to supporting a vast array of organisms. This paper is what opened my eyes to how interconnected the fields of hydrology and ecology are. What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)? I try to stay active by hiking, biking, and by playing soccer and kickball (its crazy intense in Lawrence, KS!). In normal times I also enjoy traveling to new places, going to see live music, and checking out local restaurants and breweries. .Dr. Audrey Maheu is an Associate professor at the Université du Québec en Outaouais  What does ecohydrology mean to you?
Ecohydrology looks at the interaction between hydrology and ecosystems. From there, I tend to classify things into “aquatic ecohydrology” and “terrestrial ecohydrology” depending on the main ecosystem of interest. It is my coarse way to look at things but one that I have found useful to navigate such a broad field. What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in? I completed all my degrees in my home province of Quebec (Canada), making my way to a new town at each step. I did my undergraduate in geomatics at the Université de Sherbrooke, a program that mixed geography, ecology and computer sciences. I did my MSc in integrated water resources management (IWRM) at McGill University. It was a non-thesis program. Research was not really on my radar yet and my interest was at the science-policy interface at that time. After my masters, I worked two years for the Canadian federal government. I worked at Environment Canada on indicators tracking the status of the environment. There, I worked with brilliant people that sparked my interest into research. I left the federal government to do my PhD in water sciences at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) where my thesis was on the impact of dams on stream water temperature. Finally, I did my postdoc at Université Laval where I worked with the maximum entropy production model to improve the simulation of evapotranspiration in hydrological models. How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology? My PhD thesis focused on stream water temperature and interest in this variable is typically from a fish habitat perspective. As a result, I interacted a lot with stream ecologists, from the Canadian Rivers Institute or from the defunct HydroNet network. For a semester during my PhD, I also visited N. LeRoy Poff’s stream ecology lab at Colorado State University where I worked on classifying the thermal regime of streams in the USA. These experiences made it so that, while I approach things from a hydrologist perspective, making links to ecology comes naturally. In fact, I believe a comprehensive approach bringing together various disciplines is essential to understand the complex functioning of natural systems. What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology? An increase in extreme events is projected with climate change and a lot of work has been done to dress a portrait as to what to expect. I believe the next step is to propose ways to better manage and withstand these extremes. There is a lot of interest in what has been coined “nature-based solutions.” To make that work, I believe we need to better understand and model the role of vegetation in mediating hydrological extremes, either droughts or floods. Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper? Describe/explain. One of my favorite papers is Changing forest water yields in response to climate warming: results from long-term experimental watershed sites across North America published in Global Change Biology by Irena F. Creed et al. This paper brings together a lot of my favorite things in science: long-term monitoring, a team effort to synthesize multiple datasets and elegant ties to theory. This paper was the first one I read that brought the concept of resilience to hydrology. A key result is that the type of forest vegetation, more particularly vegetation diversity, influenced the resilience of catchments to climate change. This paper made me realize how rare it is to make a connection between hydrology and biodiversity in the literature, which I think is a path that should be pursued more. What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)? I always enjoyed traveling, something I enjoy even more now that I get to show the world to my two young kids. With COVID, I spent a lot of time at home and gardening is my newfound interest. I also very much enjoy reading science fiction books. Erika Winner is a Master’s student at the University of Minnesota Duluth in the Water Resources Science Program. She works in Dr. Salli Dymond’s Water and Tree Ecohydrology Research (WaTER) lab.  What does ecohydrology mean to you?
For me, ecohydrology is integrating our mechanistic model of the hydrologic cycle with our newer concepts of ecosystem functions and services. It scales from quantifying plant water use to regional and global impacts of human behavior on water resources. What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in? I have a BS in Biology and a BA in Geology, both from Western Washington University and a graduate certificate in Geographic Information Systems from Portland State University. How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology? I grew up going on multi-day whitewater rafting trips. My parents taught me how read the river to safely maneuver the raft through tricky sections. My mom’s philosophy is “work with the river instead of fighting it,” and that’s how I learned about the power of water. It wasn’t until I was working on my GIS certificate, after my career has meandered through marine mammalogy and environmental education, that my interest in rivers and hydrology resurfaced. I got a job as a field technician surveying streams for the Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program (CHaMP). That job made me realize I wanted to work in aquatic systems instead of marine ones. After two seasons, I went to work for the Bureau of Land Management in the Aquatic and Riparian Effectiveness Monitoring Program (AREMP), where I got to travel throughout the Pacific Northwest surveying streams. It got me to think a lot more about watersheds and how land management impacts stream health. After four seasons of pebble counts and measuring large wood, I decided it was time to pursue a master’s in water resources and answer the questions I was beginning to develop as a technician. What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology? I’m seeing a greater push to incorporate a lot of ecohydrology research into adaptive management plans. It’s really exciting to see land and water managers apply academic work to real-world problems. Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper? Describe/explain. Dr. Margarita Saft has a series of papers from 2015 and 2016 that look at the impacts of multi-year drought on the rainfall-runoff relationship. I had drawn out a very similar schematic to the one shown in the papers just the day before I found them. I was beyond excited to find a similar approach to the one I was forming in my head. I also love the papers for their approachable analysis. The team was able to answer a fairly meaty question using some elegantly simple methods. It’s a good reminder that complicated is not always better. What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)? Like most people in this field, I try to get outside as much as possible. I love most water-based activities, whether it’s liquid or frozen, so skiing, rafting, kayaking, diving, etc. (Are there any water activities in the vapor phase?) I listen to too many podcasts. I enjoy being a perpetual beginner at watercolor painting, playing ukulele, and speaking Spanish. Dr. Katie Spahr is Research Program Manager at The Water Research Foundation.  What does ecohydrology mean to you?
For me, ecohydrology is an interdisciplinary field that explores relationships between water and ecological systems at different scales and different settings (i.e. developed vs. undeveloped). What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in? I have a BS (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo), a MS (CU Boulder), and a PhD (Colorado School of Mines) all in Environmental Engineering. I also am a licensed Professional Environmental Engineer; I am clearly consistent. My degrees and subsequent work experience have focused on urban water and treatment spanning the different types of water (e.g. stormwater, drinking water, grey water, water resources). I label myself as a water engineer. How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology? My PhD and Postdoc work focused on contextualizing and communicating the ancillary social and environmental benefits associated with green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). As part of this work, I explored the hydrologic-process and vegetated-related benefits of GSI. I really enjoyed diving into the literature that related larger urban green infrastructure installations, like parks, to positive ecological outcomes, like mitigation of urban heat, and exploring if the findings would be appropriate to apply to GSI. What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology? I think the most important and prescient work that is being done is looking at equity and the built environment. Specifically, I think we need to take a deeper dive into verifying that all the ancillary benefits of urban green infrastructure are actually being realized and which communities are receiving these benefits. I am part of a team hosting an AGU 2021 session entitled “Urban heat, vegetation, and water dynamics: new insights and implications for management and equity” and am looking forward to chatting with colleagues in the field about this important work. Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper? Describe/explain. I find myself thinking a lot about Shorky et al. 2020 where the authors analyze the placement of GSI and the consequent socio-ecological risk in Philadelphia, PA, USA. The authors looked at how GSI sped up gentrification in some Philadelphia neighborhoods and lead to displaced and socio-ecological insecurity for vulnerable populations. Shokry, G., J. J. Connolly, and I. Anguelovski. 2020. “Understanding climate gentrification and shifting landscapes of protection and vulnerability in green resilient Philadelphia.” Urban Clim. 31 (Mar): 100539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2019.100539. What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)? I like to read (mostly fiction), get outside (mountain biking, rock climbing, ice climbing; all the Colorado sports!), garden, cook, and hang out with my family and my dog. I’m looking forward to being able to travel more soon but I have loved all the road trips we have been taking lately. Dr. Dom Ciruzzi is an Assistant Professor of Geology at the College of William & Mary.  What does ecohydrology mean to you?
Broadly, I think ecohydrology addresses the bi-directional interaction between hydrological and ecological processes. For me, actively participating in ecohydrological research has provided another way of thinking about and interacting with the world around me. Through asking ecohydrological questions, I have been able to practice skills related to science communication, quantitative reasoning, tool development, fieldwork, lab analyses, and proper mosquito and tick prevention. I have also been able to experience beautiful landscapes, bask in vibrant sunrises and sunsets (often during 24-hour field campaigns), discover new (to me) concepts, and form relationships with inspiring people. In reflecting on how I got to this point, I am thankful and proud to identify as an ecohydrologist. What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in? B.A. in Geophysics and a minor in Math from SUNY Geneseo M.S. in Geological Sciences from the University at Buffalo Ph.D. in Geological Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology? My path to get to ecohydrology was non-linear and seemed to happen after winnowing down broad interests and through the encouragement of many mentors to keep pursuing my interests. I do remember having interests in water and environmental issues from a young age, but I certainly did not know I could build a career around researching ecohydrology questions, let alone what “ecohydrology” was. I also didn’t know a lot about grad school or what a PhD was until I got to college. Anyways, I’ll start at the beginning of when I went off to college. I started my undergraduate studies as a physics major. I also wanted to double major in art, but the art department got cut out the budget in my sophomore year (sad!). Another shift in my undergrad career happened when I took a class called Our Geologic Environment in my junior year. In that semester, I learned that I was much more interested in applying physics and math to learn about geological processes. I got involved in a research project with Dr. Scott Giorgis investigating the paleomagnetism of the Henry Mountains in Utah, which solidified my desire to pursue learning more about the geophysical sciences. I wrapped up my undergrad studies with a geophysics degree, but I didn’t know what aspect of geology/geophysics I liked most. I decided to enroll in the University at Buffalo’s M.A. in Geological Sciences program, to take graduate level classes and sift through and learn more about my academic interests. After a year of learning more about geology, I transitioned into the M.S. program at UB and began working with Dr. Chris Lowry on a research project investigating the impact of aquifer geometry on groundwater-surface water interactions in mountain meadows. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to explore my interests in geophysics and hydrogeology. Our research site was in Yosemite National Park, and after a fun day pushing a GPR cart around the meadow, we sat on pothole dome to relax. I remember sitting down on the granitic rock, looking across the meadow and the vastness around me, and thinking to myself something along the lines of “How can I keep finding myself in places like this in research and in life?” I was easily moved by conducting fieldwork at such a beautiful place and working with a wonderful, encouraging mentor. Following this experience, I was interested in learning more about the ways hydrology and geophysics could be synthesized to address the sustainability of natural and built ecosystems in the contexts of climate change and land use change. This led me to UW-Madison where I was advised by Dr. Steve Loheide through the Ph.D. program in Geological Engineering. Again, an incredible mentor helped me focus my research interests and it was somewhere in the middle of northern Wisconsin, socks pulled over my pants, shooting leaves off a tree in the middle of the night with a slingshot that I felt like I found my place as an ecohydrologist. What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology? I’m excited for the directions that new technology, monitoring efforts, and continuous data streams will take the field in advancing ecohydrological observations and models across scales. Importantly, as more and more data in ecohydrology and other fields become freely available and accessible, I view this as an important opportunity for ecohydrologists to leverage in collaborating with diverse disciplines to address wicked problems holistically. The inclusion of diverse voices in ecohydrology will always be an important area to embrace in moving forward. Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper? Describe/explain. When I was trying to figure out research directions for my dissertation, I drew a lot of inspiration from Vose et al., 2011’s paper, “Forest ecohydrological research in the 21st century: What are the critical needs?.” In particular, this paper ends with five calls for important future research directions; I was drawn in by four of them as it related to my interests and skills I wanted to develop: (1) Understanding watershed responses to climate change and variability; (2) Developing integrated models that capitalize on long-term data; (3) Linking ecohydrological processes across scales; and, (4) Managing forested watershed to adapt to climate change. These research needs are, still, worth pursuing and this paper helped me wrap my head around focusing my dissertation research, so I have appreciated its lasting impact on me. What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)? I love to paint (digital, acrylic, oil), hike around, and cook new recipes. I just moved to Williamsburg, VA, so have been enjoying exploring this new area too! Dr. Pierre Gentine is the Maurice Ewing and J. Lamar Worzel Professor at Columbia University.  What does ecohydrology mean to you?
How plants regulates the exchange of water at the land surface and therefore the coupled exchanges of energy and carbon. What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in? My undergraduate degree is in engineering and applied mathematics. My MSc and PhD were in Civil Engineering at MIT. I started an MSc in theoretical physics but left as I wanted to work on something more applicable to daily problems. How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology? I first got interested in water after working in Morocco, as water is very scarce there. Then I started thinking about the exchange of energy and water at the land surface and it became clear to me that vegetation was the key regulator of those exchanges and thus that I had to study this as a coupled system, the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology? I think carbon cycle research and the importance of water in this cycle will remain prominent for the next few years. Climate change and how it affects through a myriad of processes the water and carbon cycle as well as landscape is also going to be a key area of research. Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper? Describe/explain. Maybe my favorite paper(s) would be the one and unique series of papers from Eagleson (1978). They introduced many (if not most) modern concepts in hydrology, from stochastic rainfall, to vegetation interaction and annual water balance. Many recent papers are following on this pioneering work, yet sometimes are not aware of this initial work. What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)? I like running, skiing, hiking with my wife, listening to some good music (all the time especially when I am working), spending time with my family and friends, traveling and discovering new places (before COVID at least). In July 2021, Dr. Green finished a postdoctoral research position at Le Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE) with Philippe Ciais and Ashley Ballantyne. She is starting a new research position at the end of August in Trevor Keenan’s group at UC Berkeley.  What does ecohydrology mean to you?
To me, ecohydrology is the study of how ecosystems (specifically soil and vegetation) and the water cycle interact and modify one another. As others have said, it is an interdisciplinary area of research that includes atmospheric science, plant physiology, soil science, etc. For my work, I have also focused on how ecohydrology interacts with our global carbon cycle, and its ties to anthropogenic climate change. What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in? My undergraduate degree was from Tufts University in Civil Engineering. Then I have a MS, MPhil, and PhD from Columbia University in Earth and Environmental Engineering. How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology? I have always enjoyed being in nature and the outdoors, and I learned from a young age the importance of protecting our planet. As I grew up, I also became aware of threats to the places I loved caused by deforestation and anthropogenically caused climate change. Ecohydrology seemed like an obvious career choice for me, because it has allowed me to combine my passion for protecting the environment with the tools and problem-solving skills to do just that. It is still unclear if many ecosystems will be able to adapt and/or acclimate to a changing climate. In turn, it is also unclear how the responses of ecosystems to climate change will then feed-back on our carbon and water cycles. These are the sorts of research topics that I explore in my work. In doing so, I am contributing to improving our ability to understand and model these changes, giving us the opportunity to develop the best climate mitigation and policy to protect people and the environment. What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology? An emerging area is the use of new and improved remote sensing and reanalysis products to monitor vegetation status and diagnose water stress. The number of products available is increasing, while the temporal and spatial resolutions available are becoming finer. Meanwhile, reanalysis products are also being improved with time records continuously extending allowing for more robust studies. These products are expanding our capabilities to understand and monitor the interactions between ecosystems and the hydrologic cycle. I think that there is great potential for increasing our ability to understand our natural world with these new and improved products. Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper? Describe/explain. One of the papers that I enjoyed reading was “Examining the evidence for decoupling between photosynthesis and transpiration during heat extremes”. In this paper they discuss several observational studies that demonstrated decoupling between plant photosynthesis and transpiration during heat extremes—that is, while photosynthesis was observed to decrease in high temperatures, transpiration was observed to either be sustained or increased. From there, they tested whether they could detect the same decoupling at the canopy scale using flux tower data. While the study results were not entirely conclusive, I enjoyed the paper for two reasons—firstly, it highlights the importance and some of the struggle between scaling between leaf and canopy scale, which is so important in the field of ecohydrology. Secondly, because it is just one example of how unique certain types of vegetation are, and really just how interesting different plant behavior can be (most plants decrease their transpiration rates as photosynthesis declines, at least at the same air dryness)! I found this plant response to heat somewhat counterintuitive, but in a way, it also made so much sense. Anyway, the paper left me thinking just how cool plants really are—and also how important it is for scientists to have an understanding of ecohydrology across spatial and temporal scales to really understand the whole story. What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)? I’m a big road cyclist, outdoors enthusiast, and I love to travel and explore new places. A perfect vacation for me would involve long bike rides, hiking in the mountains, and exploring new cities. Also, seeing family and friends is always great. |
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