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Caitlin Elizabeth Hicks Pries

Guest Faculty

Affiliate

Phone: 510-495-8046

Fax: 510-486-5686

[email protected]

Curriculum Vitae

  • Researcher ID
  • Google Scholar
  • Education
  • Experience
  • Boards & Committees
  • Grants and Fellowships

Biography

I have worked at LBL for four years, where I have helped lead the field and biogeochemistry components of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Science Scientific Focus Area.

I received both a Masters Degree in Soil and Water Science and a Doctorate Degree in Biology from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. For my Masters, I studied whether the sediments of restored seagrass and mangrove ecosystems were actively accumulating carbon and which plant sources were contributing to their soil carbon. For my PhD, my main project was partitioning ecosystem respiration of tundra undergoing permafrost thaw into plant and soil sources. Warming in the subarctic is causing permafrost to thaw, which causes increased ecosystem respiration rates, meaning more CO2 is respired to the atmosphere where it can cause further warming. The source of that ecosystem respiration increase partly determines what the implications are for our climate. I found that both plant and respiration of old, deep soil carbon were increased with both natural permafrost thaw and experimentally-induced warming.

Publications

  • Researcher ID
  • Google Scholar

Research Interests

I am broadly interested in the carbon cycle and how the carbon balance of ecosystems is determined by the interplay of soil and plant processes with climate. At LBL, I have focused on deep soil organic carbon in temperate ecosystems and what processes determine its stability and how those stabilization processes are affected by climate change. Throughout my research, I have use carbon isotopes (both natural abundance and enriched levels) as tools. At LBL, I have used plant litter enriched in 13C and 15N to trace the fate of organic matter in deep soils. For my masters, I used natural abundance δ13C to trace which plants contributed to sediment organic carbon. For my PhD, I used the δ13C and ∆14C (radiocarbon) of respired CO2 to calculate the contributions of plant and soil respiration to total ecosystem respiration. I also used the radiocarbon values of soil organic carbon to model carbon accumulation rates.

Education

  • Ph.D. Biology, University of Florida, 2012, Carbon cycle changes in a changing climate: Effects of permafrost thaw on ecosystem respiration, soil C accumulation, and decomposition
  • Field/Lab Courses: Radiocarbon in Ecology and Earth System Science, UC Irvine, 2009
  • M.S. Soil and Water Science, University of Florida, 2007, Sediment organic carbon pools and sources in a recently constructed mangrove and seagrass ecosystem
  • B.A. Biology and Environmental Studies (summa cum laude), Middlebury College, 2004, Stochastic modeling of Caretta caretta populations in the Southeastern United States
  • Semester in Environmental Science, Woods Hole Marine Biological Lab, 2003

Experience

  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Research area: Responses and mechanisms of soil carbon cycling to whole-profile in situ soil warming, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2013-Present
  • Doctoral Student, Dissertation title: Effects of permafrost thaw and warming on carbon cycling in Alaskan tundra, University of Florida, 2007-2012
  • Masters Student, Thesis title: Carbon pools and sources in a constructed mangrove and seagrass habitat, University of Florida, 2005-2007
  • Research Assistant, Research area: Landscape ecology of urban ecosystems and river/savanna boundaries, Drs. Steward Pickett and Mary Cadenasso, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, 2004-2005
  • Undergraduate Student, Research project: Stochastic modeling of Caretta caretta populations in the Southeastern United States, Dr. Stephen Trombulak, Middlebury College, 2004
  • Undergraduate Student, Research project: Nutrient limitations on peat decomposition and nutrient loading in Atlantic White Cedar Swamps, Semester in Environmental Science, Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, 2003
  • Sea Turtle Intern, Monitoring sea turtle nesting and hatching, Bald Head Island Conservancy, Bald Head Island, NC, 2003
  • REU Intern, Marine Benthic Ecology, Dr. Les Watling, Darling Marine Center University of Maine, 2002
  • Research Assistant, Pollination ecology, Dr. Helen Young, Middlebury College, 2001

Advisory Boards, Committees, and Councils

  • Scientific Advisory Board Member, SPRUCE (Spruce and peatland responses under climatic and environmental change), 2016-Present
  • AGU Session Organizer, Biogeosciences section, 2013; 2016
  • DOE Belowground Carbon Cycling Review Panel, 2013; 2015
  • Organizer of “Mysteries of the Deep” soil carbon cycling workshop, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2013
  • Graduate committee representative, Department of Biology, University of Florida, 2011-2012
  • Seminar committee representative, Department of Biology, University of Florida, 2010-2011
  • Secretary, Biology Graduate Student Association, University of Florida, 2009-2010
  • Student/Faculty Liaison, Botany Graduate Student Association, University of Florida, 2008-2009

Grants and Fellowships

  • 2016: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Earth and Environmental Sciences Area Early Career Grant, Physical structure and physical disturbance: How bioturbation affects soil aggregates, soil carbon storage, and microbial structure and function (Pending)
  • 2016: Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), Associated Particle Imaging (API) for Non-Invasive Determination of Carbon Distribution in Soil, $2.4 million for 3 years (Co-Investigator)
  • 2014: Department of Energy, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science Scientific Focus Area at LBNL, $3.3 million for 3 years (Contributor)
  • 2011: University of Florida Graduate Student Research Abroad Program, The effect of permafrost warming on arctic carbon balance, $9,995
  • 2010: National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant, Carbon cycle changes in a changing climate: Using 13C and 14C to partition ecosystem respiration in tundra undergoing permafrost thaw, $14,941
  • 2010: Denali National Park Murie Science and Learning Center Research Fellowship, Carbon cycle changes in warming Alaska: Do plants or soil microbes drive changes in ecosystem respiration? $4,580
  • 2009: Science Partners in Inquiry-based Collaborative Education (SPICE) Fellowship, National Science Foundation GK-12 Program, $33,000 total for stipend and tuition
  • 2007: Alumni Graduate Fellowship, University of Florida, 2 years of $18,000 total for stipend and tuition
  • 2006: William K. Robertson Fellowship, University of Florida, Soil and Water Science Department, $1,000
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