University Distinguished Professor to explore how today’s ecosystems can help predict Earth’s future in inaugural lecture

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas faculty member Sharon Billings will deliver her inaugural University Distinguished Professor lecture at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 1 in the Beren Petroleum Conference Center of Slawson Hall G192. The lecture, “Predicting Ecosystems of the Future with the Forests and Grasslands of Today,” will share how Billings works to understand how future ecosystems will function through observations of both obvious and subtle human influences.

Billings’ research examines how climate, vegetation, nutrient availability, and both natural and anthropogenic disturbances affect forest and grassland biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nutrients and water. Her lecture will explore these influences, drawing from a range of disciplines including biology, geology, physical geography, pedology and ecosystem ecology. The lecture will showcase the importance of developing successful, long-term multidisciplinary science teams and conducting truly transdisciplinary work to succeed in an increasingly complex research environment.

Through her work, Billings provides some of the data needed by modelers who project Earth’s future climate. Her interdisciplinary approach provides a comprehensive view of how ecosystems are likely to evolve in response to ongoing, intensifying environmental change.

Individuals can register to attend the lecture, and a recording of the lecture will be posted on the Office of Faculty Affairs website.

“Ecosystem ecology has always been a truly transdisciplinary endeavor,” Billings said. “My work exemplifies why this is so, and the utility of such an approach if we hope to accurately project the future climate of our planet. Via this lecture, I hope to share the excitement we have for our work, the importance of synthesizing information and ideas from a diversity of disciplines into our questions and some of the secrets of today’s ecosystems."

Billings’ research spans various scales, organisms and ecosystems. It frequently addresses the effects of climate change and historical land cover on nutrient and carbon flows through soils, microbes and vegetation. Her work also investigates how vegetation and microbial activities influence soil profiles as they seek to acquire essential resources.

Billings holds a joint appointment in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research. She has mentored numerous undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students, as well as postdoctoral students and associate researchers.

“It is with tremendous gratitude that I accept this honor,” she said. “These accomplishments only come about with support structures, both personal and professional. This recognition is just as much about my family, friends, colleagues and mentors as it is about any research I have accomplished. Being honored in this way at KU, where colleagues have shown me ways forward innumerable times, is incredibly special."

The first distinguished professorships were established at KU in 1958. A university distinguished professorship is awarded wholly based on merit, following exacting criteria. A complete list is available on the Distinguished Professor website.