Join us for our next ESG Seminar Series speaker. Dr. Kelly Aho is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Boston University. Dr. Aho is an ecosystem ecologist studying carbon and nitrogen cycling, with a particular focus on the production and emissions of greenhouse gases from aquatic ecosystems.

Greenhouse gas emissions from streams and rivers: Linking biogeochemistry, aquatic ecology, and climate change

Streams and rivers play important roles in the carbon and nitrogen cycle. They act as connectors, biogeochemically linking the land, ocean, and atmosphere, and as reactors, supporting high rates of biogeochemical activity. In this talk, she will present on processes controlling production and emission of greenhouse gases from these freshwater ecosystems, including how streams and rivers route terrestrially derived solutes to the atmosphere and how direct measurements of greenhouse gases can provide novel insights into existing ecological theory. This work has implications for not only understanding how freshwater ecosystems function biogeochemically, but also for predicting responses to climate change and potential climate feedbacks.