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Cory Cleveland is our Faculty Member of the Month. He is a professor in the Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences in the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana, Missoula, Montana. He earned his PhD in Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Can you tell us about your current research?

My research intersects several major disciplines, including microbial ecology, biogeochemistry and ecosystem ecology. The overall goal of my research is to understand how biotic and abiotic factors regulate element cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, the implications of those processes for ecosystem function, and how ecosystems respond to global environmental change.

My current work focuses on understanding carbon and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems and my projects range from understanding the links between biological diversity and ecosystem function, the effects of soil nutrient availability on a range of critical ecosystem processes, and the effects of environmental change on tropical, temperate and high latitude ecosystems.

Can you describe an average day for you?

As a faculty member, I wear many hats. I teach courses in soil science, climate change, ecosystem ecology, and so nearly every day I am either teaching or preparing to teach my next course. I advise graduate and undergraduate students and postdocs and look forward to interacting with them about their research nearly every day.

I look forward to using my position as an F1000Prime Faculty Member to promote early-career scientists and to highlight more science from underrepresented groups in ecology

As the chair of my department, my days are also very busy with administrative tasks, but I try to find time to read and think about science every day. I will admit, though, that my ability to do that comes in 15-20 minute chunks more often than it comes as large, uninterrupted periods of time. I am proud of the fact that I have found a way to balance work and life and enjoy what Montana has to offer, and I try to find time each day to ride my bike, go for a run, climb a mountain, or try to catch a trout.

Where do you work?

Most of my projects include both field and lab pieces. I spend most of my time in my office these days, but still, try to spend at least a few weeks in the field each year. My work has taken me lots of interesting places, most recently Australia for the first time. I have worked in tropical rain forests since 1999, and that work has taken me to some of the most amazing forests on earth in Costa Rica, Hawaii, Brazil, Bolivia, Panama, among others. I also work on several projects in the forests of the intermountain western US.

Current research themes include trying to understand how plants and microbes access nutrients in low fertility ecosystems, understanding patterns, rates, and controls on biological nitrogen fixation, and trying to understand how, when, and where nutrients constrain plant growth and other ecosystem processes both now and in the future. I have become increasingly interested in how we can use experiments to more effectively inform large scale, synthetic models, and I am also starting to think about how fire influences nutrient cycling in forests and how changing fire regimes may affect their ability to recover following disturbance.

What is an aspect of your work you really enjoy?

I love asking questions. I love working with students. I love the freedom of running a research program that parallels, and changes with my own interests. I find increasingly that students seem sceptical that academia is a good career path, but I can’t imagine doing anything else. I felt like I hit the lottery when I got my job, and still consider it a privilege to be a faculty member at the University of Montana.

Outside of your field, is there another area of science you are interested in?

I have worked in tropical rain forests since 1999, and that work has taken me to some of the most amazing forests on earth in Costa Rica, Hawaii, Brazil, Bolivia, Panama, among others.

I spend most of my free time outdoors and am curious about all aspects of the natural world. I wouldn’t say I am a good naturalist, but I try. I love learning about the geology of the places I visit. I am a fly fisherman and enjoy learning about the ecology of the streams I fish. I have always been interested in birds and probably would have become an ornithologist if I hadn’t been captivated by biogeochemistry. I am also really interested in plants and spend tons of time trying to learn to identify them (with little success).

What do you like about working on F1000Prime?

I am a pretty new Faculty Member, but I like that it really forces me to read the literature. I find with all my other responsibilities that I have less time to keep up with the literature, but as an F1000Prime Faculty Member, I feel like I must try to keep up. I look forward to using my position as an F1000Prime Faculty Member to promote early-career scientists and to highlight more science from underrepresented groups in ecology. I also plan to recommend some important “classic” papers that seem to have been forgotten in the digital age.

I try to find time each day to ride my bike, go for a run, climb a mountain, or try to catch a trout.

What was your last recommendation?

My last recommendation was on a paper that was investigating how climate change may increase soil carbon losses from tropical forests. I have spent my whole career working in the tropics and am very interested in how tropical forests may respond to environmental change. Tropical forests also play a critical role in the global carbon cycle and play an important role in mediating the pace of anthropogenic climate change. Yet, there is a great deal of uncertainty about how they will respond to multiple aspects of global change. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that increasing atmospheric CO2 may enhance plant growth in the tropics, but this study suggests that increasing temperatures may accelerate soil C losses. I really like this study in that it very clearly shows how important it is to take a whole ecosystem approach to understand the effects of environmental change.

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