Steve Kannenberg
Assistant Professor
Steve grew up and went to college in Minnesota, where he enjoyed stereotypical Minnesotan activities such as hockey, boating, cross-country skiing, and pretending the winters aren't that bad. He received his PhD from Indiana University by studying the impacts of drought on forests, through which he became fascinated by the multitude of ways that plants can cope with environmental stress. He then did a postdoc at the University of Utah, where his research focused on how an ongoing ‘megadrought’ has impacted the ecology of western drylands. While in Utah, Steve spent months camping in southern Utah for fieldwork and gained a deep appreciation for the rugged yet fragile deserts of the western US. He then did another postdoc at Colorado State University, where he investigated how ‘agrivoltaic’ arrays (solar energy production co-located with agriculture) alter the physiology and ecology of the plants growing underneath. This work taught him the value of bringing ecological principles to bear on questions of sustainable development. His favorite tree is the tulip poplar, followed closely by Utah juniper.
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Ana Maria Restrepo Acevedo
Postdoc
Ana is (very proudly) from Medellín, Colombia, where she cherished countless family moments with her extensive clan, comprising 25 tíos and tías and over 30 cousins. She embarked on her academic journey, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from LaSalle University in Colombia. Ana's first visit to the United States in 2015 led her to a non-paid internship, immersing herself in fieldwork within Michigan's forests for over two months. During this unique experience, she was introduced to the captivating realm of ecohydrology, sparking a newfound passion for these innovative concepts. This pivotal moment inspired her to pursue postgraduate studies in this dynamic field. Ana received her Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin and her research focused on comprehending the impacts of drought and ecological disturbances on forest ecosystems. Employing an array of sensors and modeling techniques, she adeptly monitored and forecasted the water status of plants. Currently, Ana is helping to lead PSInet, a global network that converges data and expertise in the realm of plant and soil water potential measurements. This community is envisioned to be characterized by people centered around the ecology of plants and soils with a greater purpose of enhancing gender balance, increased racial diversity, and expanded geographic representation in science.
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Jie Hu
Postdoc
Jie is interested in the land surface processes and ecosystem functioning, especially their responses to climate and environmental changes across scales. She obtained her PhD in Soil and Environmental Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where her research focused on the carbon and water cycling in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum based on the National Ecological Observatory Network. Jie is originally from China. She is a tea drinker and is proud of the best green tea from her hometown - Lu'an Gua Pian.
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Email: Jie.Hu@mail.wvu.edu
Alyssa Willson
Postdoc
Alyssa is a computational ecologist interested in how plant communities and ecosystems change over hundreds to thousands of years, particularly in response to climate change. During her PhD at the University of Notre Dame, Alyssa used statistical and process-based modeling to understand how temperate and tropical forests have changed over a variety of timescales, ranging from decades to millennia. Using these approaches, she found that ecological feedbacks within ecosystems may alter the relationship between climate change and vegetation change, limiting long-term predictability of vegetation responses to climate change. At WVU, Alyssa is eager to gain more experience working with observational records at shorter timescales to ultimately improve predictability across short and long timescales. In her free time, Alyssa enjoys spending time with her husband and pets, and watching Survivor with her friends and family.
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Email: Alyssa.Willson@mail.wvu.edu
Cameron Dow
Ph.D. student
Cameron's research interests lie in the realm of climate change, where he is particularly interested in how trees are responding to altered climate conditions. He received his MS from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana where he studied the decline of Chestnut Oak in southern Indiana. He has previously worked with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute developing a novel method to analyze the impact of climate change on intra-annual wood growth phenology. His past research has illustrated how sensitive certain tree species are to climate change and how forest health may suffer as a consequence. When he's not working, Cameron enjoys hiking and running through the mountains near Morgantown.
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Email: cdd00022@mix.wvu.edu
Mischa Schutz
Ph.D. student
Mischelle Schutz holds a B.A. in Public Health from Carroll College and a B.S. in Biology from Washington State University. Her strong molecular background gave her opportunities to work on soil projects at both WSU and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Mischelle wanted to apply her unique skills to understand how ecosystems and plants are responding to the growing threats of fire and drought. Her current research focuses on how these environmental extremes affect plant resilience. During her downtime, Mischelle enjoys catching a baseball game, bird watching, and finding wildflowers.
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Email: ms00386@mix.wvu.edu
Annabel Zwarts
Ph.D. student
Annabel was born and raised in the southern Maastricht, The Netherlands, surrounded by an unique ecosystem and known as the home of the first found Mosasaurus. She moved to Amsterdam to pursue an interdisciplinary bachelor's degree with a major in Biology at the University of Amsterdam. For her master's, she received a student assistantship at the Florida Institute of Technology, where she was a teaching assistant and completed a research master in Ecology. Her research was focussed on the historical fire activity and vegetation changes in the Amazonian rainforest in Iquitos, (Peru) and Iamoe (Ecuador). During her time in Florida, she developed an interest in spatial statistics, landscape ecology, and how the history of an ecosystem can inform our understanding of its future. This passion led her to WVU, where she hopes to apply her interdisciplinary background and further develop her statistical skills to study the Appalachian forest ecosystem.Outside of the university, Annabel enjoys rowing, biking, powerlifting, painting and baking. She cannot function without coffee and proudly advocates for her brother's coffee roastery, BYBO.
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Email: az00044@mix.wvu.edu
