Dr. Courtney Currier has recently become a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Plant Sciences, collaborating with Dr. Adam Pellegrini and his Disturbance and Ecosystem Function group. This partnership, supported by a European Research Council grant awarded to Dr. Pellegrini, is dedicated to investigating the global-scale impacts of fire and grazing management on soil carbon sequestration in drylands. Dr. Currier's primary objective is to address a significant research gap by identifying the ecological mechanisms responsible for the variable soil carbon responses to fire and grazing across different geographical locations. Given that drylands encompass 45% of the Earth's terrestrial surface, this research holds great promise for understanding how land use management can contribute to climate change mitigation.
Before joining the research community at Cambridge, Dr. Currier earned a Ph.D. from Arizona State University, where she delved into the effects of long-term precipitation extremes on various dryland ecosystem processes, including plant phenology and nitrogen cycling. Dr. Currier's interdisciplinary approach to science involves hands-on fieldwork, laboratory analysis of stable isotopes, and creative endeavors like art to effectively communicate her research findings and conclusions.
