I am a Ph.D. student working on the Salt Marsh Ecosystem Dynamics project. In particular, I am interested in studying the effects of emergent macrophyte species composition on salt marsh resilience, especially in relation to stressors induced by anthropogenic climate change. Our research group, including scientists from the University of Notre Dame, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center combine field measurements, greenhouse experiments, genetic analyses, and Bayesian modeling to better understand the magnitude and impact of these ecosystem engineers on this valuable habitat.
Additionally, I am interested in the relationship between the current legal landscape and conservation. Identifying and addressing barriers to conservation under climate change will be critical if we are to encourage adaptive management of the vast biodiversity of our different ecosystems.
2023-09-11: Nate was awarded a 2023-2024 Graduate Justice Fellowship. The fellowship is designed to create an interdisciplinary community of graduate students committed to scholarship that engages questions of justice. Congrats Nate!