Research
My research interests span the fields of forest ecophysiology, biogeochemistry, ecosystem modeling, remote sensing, and climate change in ecosystems spanning a range of human influence. I am interested in the processes that drive forest carbon (C) cycling and how these drivers change with disturbance and anthropogenic modification. I study how forest structure influences availability and usage of growth-limiting resources and the effects on forest C storage and biogeochemical cycling. I address these questions using methods that bridge multiple spatial scales, from leaf-level ecophysiology to landscape-level experiments to remote sensing and modeling of vegetation dynamics across the landscape of natural and engineered ecosystems.
Current Projects
Mechanisms of Long-term Resilience of Forest Carbon Storage (Ongoing)
My dissertation research focused on the long-term C storage capacity of forests that underwent varying intensities of human-induced disturbance. Contrary to traditional understanding, recent investigations demonstrate that even very old […]
Biogenic Carbon Emissions in the Urban Ecosystem (ongoing)
In collaboration with Lucy Hutyra’s lab at Boston University I am working to quantify biomass, biogenic and anthropogenic C fluxes, and the spatial distribution of each across the heterogeneous gradient […]
Effects of Structural & Biological Diversity on Forest Productivity (ongoing)
Dr. Hardiman is working with colleagues in the Plants and Games Lab and the Couture Lab of plant-insect chemical ecology to understand how the structural, functional, and taxonomic diversity of […]