NEWS

Michael Strickland

Graduate Student Excellence-in-Research Award 2010

Michael Strickland, a recent doctoral graduate in ecology, made important advances in linking microbial community composition with biogeochemical processes. His research provides strong evidence for the idea that historical contingencies shape the biogeochemical functioning of these communities in new environments. This knowledge is central to accurate predictions of the impact of global climate change on ecosystems—and the feedback from these to the climate system. Strickland’s first paper was not only published in Ecology, the top journal in the ecological sciences, it went on to receive the Biogeosciences Section Junior Scientist Outstanding Paper Award, a national award from the Ecological Society of America. He already has 12 manuscripts published, in review, or in press. All of his papers are published in high-impact, internationally important publications, and already have citation numbers in the double digits, demonstrating the significant influence of his work. Strickland is currently a post-doctoral research associate in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University.