Christine Goodale is an ecosystem ecologist and an

Associate Professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. Goodale conducts research that studies the cycling of

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

and other nutrients through

forest ecosystem Forest ecology is the scientific study of the interrelated patterns, processes, flora, fauna, funga, and ecosystems in forests. The management of forests is known as forestry, silviculture, and forest management. A forest ecosystem is a natural wo ...

Education

Christine Goodale attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

for her undergraduate studies, graduating in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in

Environmental Studies Environmental studies (EVS or EVST) is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human behavior, human interaction with the Natural environment, environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sci ...

and

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

. Following her graduation, Goodale moved to the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

for her masters research in

Natural Resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...

(1995) and remained there to earn her Ph.D. in

(1999). Goodale was a student of John D. Aber, an ecologist and Professor of Natural Resources & the Environment at the University of New Hampshire, during her doctoral research. During her time with John D. Aber, Goodale the co-authored two papers and studied

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, including mapping of monthly

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

and

solar radiation Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrared (typically p ...

in addition to the sensitivity of Ireland forest ecosystems.

Career and research

Jobs

Following the completion of her doctoral studies at the University of New Hampshire in 1999, Christine Goodale held her first position as a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institute of Washington in the Plant Science program located in

Stanford, California Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University, after which it was named. The CDP's population was 21,150 at the United States Census, ...

. In 2001, Goodale relocated to The Woods Hole Research Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where she participated in a postdoctoral fellowship until the year 2003. Later that same year Goodale was hired at

as an assistant professor in the Department of

Ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

and

Evolutionary Biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biolo ...

. In 2010, Goodale became an associate professor at Cornell University, where she has remained since, teaching classes such as BIOEE 4780 – Ecosystem Biology and Global Change and BIOEE 9990 – Ph.D. Dissertation Research.

Fields and research

Christine Goodale's official fields of research are ecology and evolutionary biology as well as Soil and Crop Sciences. She has experience in a wide variety of scientific topics, including

acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists b ...

carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. It plays a crucial role in Climate change mitigation, limiting climate change by reducing the amount of Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere, carbon dioxide in the atmosphe ...

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

nitrogen cycling The nitrogen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which nitrogen is converted into multiple chemical forms as it circulates among atmospheric, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems. The conversion of nitrogen can be carried out through both biologi ...

and retention, and watershed processes. Goodale is an ecosystem ecologist whose research focuses mainly on forest ecosystems, including the role that forests play in important

water cycle The water cycle (or hydrologic cycle or hydrological cycle) is a biogeochemical cycle that involves the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth across different reservoirs. The mass of water on Earth remains fai ...

processes and regulation of atmospheric

greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...

es, as well as the impacts that afflict forest ecosystems as a result of

human activities Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are great apes characterized by their hairlessness, bipedalism, and high intelligen ...

. Goodale specifically focuses on nutrients like

and

, and her lab is dedicated to understanding the impact that elevated nitrogen levels have on forest ecosystem processes, and the way that these ecosystems manage the excess nitrogen. Goodale and her team examine these impacts across multiple spatial and temporal levels, from plots in a watershed to whole continents, utilizing a combination of field studies,

ecosystem model An ecosystem model is an abstract, usually mathematical, representation of an ecological system (ranging in scale from an individual population, to an ecological community, or even an entire biome), which is studied to better understand the r ...

ing, and acquired regional

data set A data set (or dataset) is a collection of data. In the case of tabular data, a data set corresponds to one or more table (database), database tables, where every column (database), column of a table represents a particular Variable (computer sci ...

s to help answer their main research questions. Her past research has taken place mainly in the forests of the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

, primarily forests in the White Mountains of

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and central

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Awards and honors

Christine Goodale has won a variety of awards and honors during her career, including: *

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

, Early Career Award (NSF-CAREER), 2009. *

Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability is the hub of collaborative sustainability research at Cornell University, forging vital connections among researchers, students, staff, and external partners. The center’s funding and programming a ...

(ACSF) Faculty Fellow, Cornell. * Alexander Hollaender Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship.

U.S. Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear we ...

, 1999. In addition to the

awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

and fellowships that she has received, Goodale has also been selected to participate in

editorial board The editorial board is a group of editors, writers, and other people who are charged with implementing a publication's approach to editorials and other opinion pieces. The editorials published normally represent the views or goals of the publicat ...

s, advising panels, and working groups.

Editorial work

Goodale has served on editorial boards for multiple

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

s, including a guest editorial position in 2011 for

Environmental Pollution ''Environmental Pollution'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the biological, health, and ecological effects of environmental pollution. It was established in 1980 as two parts: ''Environmental Pollution Series A: Ecological and Biologi ...

, Special Issue: Nitrogen Deposition, Critical Loads and Biodiversity.

Advising panels and working groups

Goodale has been selected to work on multiple advising panels and working groups over the past two decades including the

Union of Concerned Scientists The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is a nonprofit science advocacy organization based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists. Anne Kapuscinski, Professor of Environment ...

, The Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study funded by the National Science Foundation, and the National Ecological Observation Network (NEON) Science, Technology, and Education Advisory Committee (STEAC).

Publications

Christine Goodale has authored or co-authored over 35 published peer-reviewed

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

s. Her research has been published in multiple journals, including Environmental Pollution,

Climate Research Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , ''-logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospheric ...

, and Biogeochemistry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodale, Christine Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Cornell University faculty American ecologists Dartmouth College alumni American women ecologists University of New Hampshire alumni