Daniela Cusack Lab People

LAB GROUP:

Daniela Cusack , CV
dcusack@geog.ucla.edu
Assistant Professor

Effects of global change (e.g. drying, nitrogen deposition, wildfire) on tropical ecosystem carbon storage and nutrient cycling across biogeographic gradients.

Lee Dietterich
ldietterich@ucla.edu
Postdoctoral researcher

Contributions of plant-soil interactions to carbon and nutrient cycling with drying across tropical forests.

Avishesh Neupane
avineupane@gmail.com
Ph.D. degree student

The fate of new carbon in soils across weathering and mineralogical gradients in tropical forests and grasslands.

LAB GROUP ALUMNI:

Mark Ciochina
ciochina@ucla.edu
M.A. 2017

Shifts in ecosystem processes across spatial and temporal scales, and how feedbacks, tipping points, and disturbances create stability or change in ecosystems.

Sarah Halterman
smhalterman@gmail.com
M.A. 2015

Effects of changes in climate and forest productivity on carbon storage in tropical forest ecosystems. Intersection of field and laboratory methods with remote sensing and climate modeling technologies to extrapolate findings and make predictions on a global scale.

Corey Rovzar
c.rovzar@ucla.edu
Ph.D. collaborator 2015

Influence of soil properties on the restoration success of endangered native Hawaiian dry forest species in a highly degraded habitat.

Daniel Ashdown
dnashdown@gmail.com
Undergraduate Researcher 2014-2016

Responses of total soil carbon stocks to long-term changes in litter inputs and fertilization in tropical forests in Panama.

Tim Johnston
snowman32285@hotmail.com
Undergraduate honors 2015

Resilience of changes in soil carbon and nitrogen stocks two years after the end of a multi-decade fertilization experiment mimicking hurricane effects in Puerto Rico.

Ismarie Santiago
ismariesantiago@pucpr.edu
NSF Research Experience for Undergrads (REU) 2014

Recovery of soil nutrient levels two years after the end of long-term nutrient fertilizations in Puerto Rican rainforests.

Taylor McCleery
taylor.mccleery@gmail.com
Undergraduate and MA student 2011-2014

Effects of pollution and urbanization on the spread of non-native species and nutrient retention and storage in tropical and temperate ecosystems.

Amy Stuyvesant
amystuy@gmail.com
Undergraduate honors student 2012-2013

How increased nutrient inputs, as may happen with green leaf litter from hurricanes, alters soil nutrient content of tropical rain forests of Puerto Rico.

Chase LeCroy
chase.s.lecroy@gmail.com
Lab manager 2011-2013

Sample processing and chemical analysis of plant and soil tissues for organic and inorganic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus content.

Kathryn Gaasch
kgaasch1@vt.edu
NSF Research Experience for Undergrads (REU) 2012

Long-term effects of nutrient fertilization (N, P, K, micro) effects on Puerto Rican rainforests

Joseph Lee
josephkanglee@gmail.com
Undergraduate honors student 2011-2012

Controls on soil respiration between forest and invasive grass sites in the tropical urban watershed of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Arion Farley
Arion.tooley@gmail.com
Field and lab technician 2010

Soil and plant tissue sample collection and processing, and carrying huge loads through the rainforest in Puerto Rico!