Meet Steve Garrity
By Sue McMurray
Judging from photos of his research project located in the canopy of a northeastern Michigan forest, it’s a good thing Steve Garrity isn’t afraid of heights. Climbing a 150-foot tower to install remote sensing instrumentation was a common task during the Biosphere-Atmosphere Research Training program Garrity completed as part of his doctoral studies at the University of Idaho.
Garrity, from Bozeman, Mont., started his doctorate straight out of his bachelor’s program in a project focusing on identifying plant photosynthetic efficiency using remote sensing. As a result of his successful first year of investigation in 2006, Garrity wrote a proposal and was awarded a prestigious two‐year IGERT National Science Foundation graduate fellowship headquartered at the University of Michigan. Only eight or fewer graduate students in the nation are selected to receive this award annually. This research opportunity allowed him to expand on the scientific community’s knowledge of forest-atmosphere interactions, specifically, the process of carbon exchange.
“My study focused on quantifying carbon exchange in a mixed hardwood forest to better understand how individual tree species are involved in carbon cycling between the biosphere (anything on land) and the atmosphere,” said Garrity.
To quantify carbon dynamics at broad scales, scientists often use satellite- and aircraft-based spectrometers which cost thousands of dollars. Garrity developed an enhanced, mini version of the instrument at a much lower cost but that will still capture the necessary data. By using a specialized instrument and conducting a smaller scale study, he hopes his research will advance similar studies conducted at the global scale.
A handful of labs around the world are making good progress towards the goal of linking remotely sensed measurements with real‐time canopy physiology, and Garrity is a large part of the effort that has made the university a respected leader in this effort. He recognized early on the lack of available optical instrumentation to enable site‐specific comparisons between canopy reflectance and greenhouse gas exchange with the atmosphere. Garrity expertly designed a low cost, lightweight, waterproof instrument that was capable of making automated, long term measurements.
Ultimately, he hopes that his research will help improve the ability of scientists to monitor the physiological functioning of these forests at global spatial scales and thus better understand how they will respond to climate change.
“Steve’s work will not only improve our understanding about the role one forest plays in mitigating atmospheric increases of carbon, but through the inclusion of spectrometers, will also add insight to how we can apply what we learn to other ecosystem types around the world,” said Lee Vierling, Garrity’s major faculty adviser.
Garrity graduated May 15 with a doctorate in natural resource, and was voted outstanding graduate student in the college at the CNR awards banquet April 25. He has accepted a post doctoral position at The Ohio State University researching swirl and flow of wind and affects on seed and smoke dispersal, among other aspects of wind transport modeling.
Judging from photos of his research project located in the canopy of a northeastern Michigan forest, it’s a good thing Steve Garrity isn’t afraid of heights. Climbing a 150-foot tower to install remote sensing instrumentation was a common task during the Biosphere-Atmosphere Research Training program Garrity completed as part of his doctoral studies at the University of Idaho.
Garrity, from Bozeman, Mont., started his doctorate straight out of his bachelor’s program in a project focusing on identifying plant photosynthetic efficiency using remote sensing. As a result of his successful first year of investigation in 2006, Garrity wrote a proposal and was awarded a prestigious two‐year IGERT National Science Foundation graduate fellowship headquartered at the University of Michigan. Only eight or fewer graduate students in the nation are selected to receive this award annually. This research opportunity allowed him to expand on the scientific community’s knowledge of forest-atmosphere interactions, specifically, the process of carbon exchange.
“My study focused on quantifying carbon exchange in a mixed hardwood forest to better understand how individual tree species are involved in carbon cycling between the biosphere (anything on land) and the atmosphere,” said Garrity.
To quantify carbon dynamics at broad scales, scientists often use satellite- and aircraft-based spectrometers which cost thousands of dollars. Garrity developed an enhanced, mini version of the instrument at a much lower cost but that will still capture the necessary data. By using a specialized instrument and conducting a smaller scale study, he hopes his research will advance similar studies conducted at the global scale.
A handful of labs around the world are making good progress towards the goal of linking remotely sensed measurements with real‐time canopy physiology, and Garrity is a large part of the effort that has made the university a respected leader in this effort. He recognized early on the lack of available optical instrumentation to enable site‐specific comparisons between canopy reflectance and greenhouse gas exchange with the atmosphere. Garrity expertly designed a low cost, lightweight, waterproof instrument that was capable of making automated, long term measurements.
Ultimately, he hopes that his research will help improve the ability of scientists to monitor the physiological functioning of these forests at global spatial scales and thus better understand how they will respond to climate change.
“Steve’s work will not only improve our understanding about the role one forest plays in mitigating atmospheric increases of carbon, but through the inclusion of spectrometers, will also add insight to how we can apply what we learn to other ecosystem types around the world,” said Lee Vierling, Garrity’s major faculty adviser.
Garrity graduated May 15 with a doctorate in natural resource, and was voted outstanding graduate student in the college at the CNR awards banquet April 25. He has accepted a post doctoral position at The Ohio State University researching swirl and flow of wind and affects on seed and smoke dispersal, among other aspects of wind transport modeling.
