Sharon Billings


Sharon Billings
  • Senior Scientist
  • University Distinguished Professor
  • Dean's Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
she/her/hers

Contact Info

152 Takeru Higuchi Hall

Education

B.A. in Political Science, University of New Hampshire, 1991
M.S. in Ecosystem Ecology, Duke University, 1996
Ph.D. in Ecosystem Ecology, Duke University, 1998

Research

Our research investigates how forest and grassland biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nutrients, and water is influenced by climate, vegetation, nutrient availability, and natural and anthropogenic disturbance regimes. We explore scales ranging from microorganisms to the whole ecosystem. In so doing, we invoke tools from a wide range of disciplines, including ecosystem ecology, ecophysiology, microbial ecology and soil science. We quantify pools and fluxes of carbon and nutrients in soils and vegetation to assess how ecosystems respond to environmental conditions, often using stable isotopic signatures in biomass, soil organic matter, and multiple greenhouse gases to infer driving mechanisms.

Research interests:

  • Ecosystem ecology
  • Climate change
  • Soil organic matter
  • Microbial ecology
  • Biogeochemistry
  • Stable isotope ecology