Research Statement
The combined action of uplift and erosion brings bedrock toward Earth’s surface. As it approaches, weathering liberates nutrients and generates porosity, creating voids where infiltrating precipitation becomes stored and accessible to plants. Our work seeks to understand the consequences of weathering—which can extend deep into the bedrock that underlies hillslopes—for water storage, runoff, erosion and ecosystem processes, and how and why weathering profiles vary across landscapes. We look across gradients of rock type, climate, and biomes, thereby turning landscapes into natural laboratories for scientific study. This approach results in transdisciplinary studies that integrate concepts from the fields of hydrology, geomorphology, and plant ecophysiology.