Jamie earned a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Carleton College in Northfield, MN. In 2020 she earned her PhD in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution in the Department of Biology at Boston University. At BU she examined the combined effects of projected warmer soil temperatures in the summer and colder soil temperatures in the winter on northern hardwood forest water, carbon, and nitrogen cycling. She leverages her background in biogeochemistry in the Commane group to study fluxes of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) at Harvard Forest, MA and elsewhere.
Research
Jamie is leading our research on OCS fluxes.
Biography
Publications
Publications from Previous Research
- Harrison, J.L., Schultz, K., Blagden, M., Sanders-DeMott, R. and Templer, P.H., 2020. Growing season soil warming may counteract trend of nitrogen oligotrophication in a northern hardwood forest. Biogeochemistry, 151(2), pp.139-152.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00717-z
- Harrison, J.L., Blagden, M., Green, M.B., Salvucci, G.D. and Templer, P.H., 2020. Water sources for red maple trees in a northern hardwood forest under a changing climate. Ecohydrology, 13(8), p.e2248. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2248
- Harrison, J.L., Sanders‐DeMott, R., Reinmann, A.B., Sorensen, P.O., Phillips, N.G. and Templer, P.H., 2020. Growing‐season warming and winter soil freeze/thaw cycles increase transpiration in a northern hardwood forest. Ecology, 101(11), p.e03173. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3173
Education
- Ph.D., Boston University, Boston, MA – May 2020
- Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution in the Department of Biology
- B.A., Carleton College – May 2015
- Environmental Studies
Research Appointments
- Postdoctoral Research Scientist - July 2020 - Present
- Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY
- Advisor: Róisín Commane
- Boston University, Boston, MA – June 2015 – September 2016
- Research Assistant and Lab Manager
Previous Research
Effects of climate change across seasons on biogeochemical cycling in a northern hardwood forest
Climate models project that mean annual air temperatures for the northeastern U.S. will rise up to 5°C by the year 2100. However, increased air temperatures also lead to a smaller winter snowpack and increased frequency of soil freeze/thaw cycles (FTCs) due to lack of an insulating layer of snow. While warmer growing seasons are projected to positively affect nutrient uptake and carbon storage by trees, past studies show that soil freezing in winter offsets these increases. My dissertation research focused on carbon, nitrogen (N), and water cycling in a northern hardwood forest at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in NH where we conducted a soil temperature manipulation experiment. My results demonstrate that rates of transpiration and leaf-level C uptake by Acer rubrum increase with rising growing season soil temperatures, but increased rates of C uptake are offset by increased frequency of FTCs, while increased transpiration rates are maintained. I also demonstrated that net N mineralization and foliar N in trees are elevated with soil warming and not affected by soil freezing. Utilizing the stable isotopic composition of water in both trees and soils, I showed that trees access shallow water (< 30 cm depth) in the early growing season. Further, trees that experience FTCs take up equal amounts of water from all soil depths, while those without FTCs switch to a deeper source (> 90 cm depth) that has greater water potential in the late growing season. Overall, results of my dissertation demonstrated that biogeochemical cycling of C, N, and water are affected by projected changes in climate across seasons in ways that would not have been apparent from examining only one season alone.