Plant Ecology and Climate Change Lab
Dr. Ben Lee - PI
Ben is a climate change ecologist primarily interested in how forests will respond to ongoing climate change. He is especially interested in how shifts in phenology - the timing of repeated life history events such as flowering and leaf expansion - alter how plants interact with resource availability and with other organisms. Other research interests of his include species invasions, climate change effects on biodiversity and community composition, and patterns of carbon storage and allocation in trees and forests.
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Email: LeeBR1@etsu.edu
Grad students
Elizabeth Howe - MSc. student
Liz is interested in how environmental conditions structure biotic interactions in temperate forest understory environments. She is quantifying elevational tradeoffs between growing season length, access to spring light, and photosynthetic efficiency for communities of spring ephemeral wildflowers.
Erin Helbert - MSc. student
Erin is interested in plant community ecology and specifically how invasive species affect biotic interactions between native forest plants. In addition to her research, Erin enjoys gardening and volunteering in community conservation and restoration organizations.
Undergrads
Sidney Booher
Sidney is a senior undergraduate researching how hemlock woolly adelgids affect tree competition in Appalachian forests. Specifically, she is investigating whether and how hemlock mortality events release neighboring trees from competition. She is a proud TRIO McNair scholar.
Emma is an undergraduate student working in the PEACCH lab, where she assists with research exploring the effects of climate change on plant ecosystems. Emma is passionate about ecological conservation and is excited to develop her skills in fieldwork research as part of the lab team. She is pursuing a degree in biology at East Tennessee State University and hopes to apply her knowledge toward addressing environmental challenges.
Emma Bradley
Lannie Greene
Jared is a junior at ETSU researching how climate change affects the phenological synchrony of different sexes of dioecious plant species, specifically northern spicebush. He is passionate about land and wildlife management.
Jared Greer
