Welcome to the Record Lab!

What drives the distribution and abundance of life on Earth across space and time? Within the context of this key question, research in our group focuses on two main themes: 1) understanding what processes (i.e., demographic, species interactions) result in the distribution of species and 2) determining drivers of genetic, trait, and species diversity across large landscapes (and oceans).  More specifically, our research program focuses on linking ecological theory and site-scale empirical data with collation of large data sets on regional and global ecological patterns using quantitative methods.

Our group also models an increasingly collaborative, network-based style of research for ecology. Given that much of our research spans continental spatial and long temporal scales, we leverage national and international collaborations with colleagues and federally funded networks (e.g., the Long Term Ecological Research Network [LTER] , the Smithsonian ForestGEO network, and the National Ecological Observatory Network [NEON]) to access infrastructure to make the work that we do possible.

Photo credits: Noah Charney (above), Roberto Carrera-Martinez (below)