Spring Pizza Lunch Seminar Series
12:30–2:00 pm | Morse Hall, room 301
Join us on the first Thursday of each month to eat pizza, build community, and listen to flash talks from your ESRC colleagues. Pizza served at 12:30, talks start around 12:45. Hope to see you there!
Interested in giving a talk? Please email Vandy.Vandewater@unh.edu
2026 Dates
First Thursdays
- April 2
- May 7
2026 Seminar Topics
Dissolved inorganic carbon inputs into streams are shaped by soil respiration and subsurface weathering
Speaker: Ashif Abir from the Water Systems Analysis Group
Across the terrestrial-aquatic continuum, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and its component species (H2CO3, HCO3-, CO32-) vary across upland soil water, groundwater and surface water. The variation can be attributed to different dominant processes across these pools. Using standardized measurements from NEON at 25 co-located terrestrial-aquatic sites, we aim to specify how the observed changes in DIC and its components is associated with watershed scale processes such as soil respiration and subsurface weathering.
Effects of Seaweed-Supplemented Dairy Cow Excreta on Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Soil C and N Responses
Speaker: Sadid Hossain from the Trace Gas Biogeochemistry Group
This study investigates how the manure from organic dairy cows fed the red seaweed Chondrus crispus affects the emissions of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), and nitrous oxide (N2O) from soils. Preliminary results suggest that excreta from seaweed-fed cows may increase methane emissions, highlighting important tradeoffs in climate-smart livestock strategies.
Our speakers, Marge and Malini, are visiting from Smith College in Northampton, MA under the guidance of former UNH/EOS post-doc and now Assistant Professor Dr. Jess Gersony.
Investigating drought tolerance and growth in Northeastern U.S. forest trees
Drought events are expected to become more severe and frequent across the Northeast U.S. as a result of human-induced climate change. This talk will cover the progress of an MS thesis ranking drought tolerance of four tree species using physiological mechanisms (i.e. visualizing embolism formation). This thesis also aims to scale leaf-level hydraulic traits to whole-tree growth via tree-ring analyses.
Poly-Stress Responses in Conifers: Seasonal Coordination of dehydration tolerance traits
Globally, coniferous forests persist under multiple environmental stresses, including freezing winters and summer droughts. Yet our understanding of how they physiologically cope with sequential summer drought followed by winter freeze-thaw cycles within the same annual cycle (poly-stress) remains limited. This talk will present results from two complementary studies: (1) a common-garden experiment evaluating coordination between drought tolerance and cold hardiness traits across 12 conifer species, and (2) a year-long field study tracking seasonal physiological responses (ABA dynamics, osmolality, and related traits) in mature trees versus seedlings of four native northeastern conifer species.
Share your research through EOS Communications
Speakers: Rebecca Ireland and Holly H. Oliver of EOS Communications
Becky and Holly showed us ways we can share our research through their services, including EOS social media pages. This is great for anyone trying to get more exposure on their research and work with those in the greater EOS community.
Ph.D. student on freshwater biogeochemistry
Speaker: NRESS Ph.D. Student Alicia Dixon from Adam Wymore's ECOSHEDS Lab
Alicia spoke about freshwater biogeochemistry. Her talk was titled, "Evidence for and chemistry of secondary leaching of leaves in streams."
