NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY2008

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This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2008. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology of underrepresented minorities through mentorship in field and laboratory experiments. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Holly R. Barnard is "Developing reliable methods for assessing water loss from forest vegetation versus soil evaporation in a sub-alpine watershed" The host institution for this research is the University of Wyoming and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. David Williams.The role that transpiration plays in water balance in the forest ecosystem is poorly understood. Transpiration by plants is often measured with surface evaporation as "evapotranspiration." Although measured as one unit, transpiration and evaporation respond to environmental drivers in fundamentally different ways. As a result, the understanding of the importance of water used for biological processes (such as photosynthesis) versus water that evaporates and is not biologically available is relatively limited in forests. This research measures changes in the stable isotope composition of water along the soil-plant-atmosphere-continuum. The composition of stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen are being used to separate the components of evapotranspiration as water vapor is exchanged between vegetation and the atmosphere.The training objectives include techniques in stable isotopes and the fusion of basic plant ecophysiology with hydrology to assess how plants modulate biologically available water in forested ecosystems. Results will have agricultural impacts as developing techniques to improve water management and water use will increase efficiency for crops growing in water limited environments of developing countries through collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Soil and Water Section. Activites to broaden participation include mentoring of undergraduate students and serving as a role model.