Ivan J. Fernandez

Address: University of Maine, School of Forest Resources and Climate Change Institute, Orono, ME 04469-5722

Research Area:

I am a soil scientist with interests in the biogeochemistry of forested ecosystems in a changing chemical and physical climate.  The focus of the program has been on the underlying mechanisms governing the biogeochemical response of forests and forested watersheds to management, air pollution, and climate change.  Our research emphasis is exploring the processes of ecosystem acidification, nitrogen saturation, alterations in phosphorus cycling, base cation depletion, the role of climate (i.e., temperature change and moisture stress) in altering the ecological stoichiometry of these ecosystems, and carbon sequestration in forested landscapes.

I am also interested in how we are developing adaptation strategies for managing ecosystem response to climate change, particularly as it relates to terrestrial ecosystems and the freshwater resources they encompass.  Along with understanding how we can accommodate the changes that have already taken place, and those anticipated in the future, I am also interested in how we can identify and promote the new ecological and economic opportunities that the inevitable change will provide.