People | UBC Micrometeorology Lab

Dr. Sara Helen Knox, Assistant Professor
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I am broadly interested in the impacts of climate variability and land-use change on land-atmosphere exchanges of water, energy, and trace gases. I also seek to understand how ecosystem responses to global change can feedback to slow or accelerate future climate change. My research and training is in micrometeorology, hydrology, and ecosystem ecology. I focus on biosphere-atmosphere interactions in a variety of climates and ecosystems.

Education
University of California, Berkeley, PhD
Carleton University, MSc
McGill University, BSc

Contact information and links
Email: sara.knox@ubc.ca
https://github.com/sknox01

Rick Ketler, Project Manager (Geography)

Currently Research Projects Manager for UBC Geography Physical Labs. I have designed and installed research sites in terrain ranging from temperate bogs to arctic tundra. I primarily support professors, PDF’s and grad students with physical scientific measurements in the field and in the lab.

Education
B.Sc. Physics Co-op University of Victoria, B.C.

Contact information
Email: rick.ketler@ubc.ca
Address: PCMH B1100

Zoran Nesic, Senior Research Engineer

I am responsible for management of numerous research and equipment design projects for various faculties and departments at UBC. I design eddy covariance and soil respiration systems that are used at various North American universities as well as by other research institutions. My main research interests are (1) the design of automated measurement systems for long-term environmental measurements and (2) the standardization of measurement and data processing procedures to ensure high quality and reproducibility of research results.

Education
B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade
M.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, UBC

Current Students and Postdocs

June Skeeter, Postdoctoral Scholar
I am a non-binary geographer, researcher, and educator and my pronouns are they/them/theirs. I have been living as an uninvited guest on unceded Coast Salish Territory since 2015 and (will soon receive) a PhD in Geography from the University of British Columbia in 2022. My research focuses on using micrometeorology, remote sensing, spatial analysis, and machine learning to understand ecosystem-scale carbon fluxes. I am particularly interested in climate feedback mechanisms which either exacerbate or can help mitigate climate change

Tzu-Yi, Lu, Ph.D. student

I received my MS in Geography from National Taiwan University in 2017. I am interested in understanding the response of the wetland ecosystem to climate change, especially in quantifying the net exchange of carbon. My previous research investigated the relationship between environmental controls and CO2 flux in low-latitude wetland ecosystems, applying an Artificial Neural Network technique to simulate the variance of carbon exchange by meteorological variables.

Katrina Poppe, Ph.D. student

I earned an MS in Environmental Science from Western Washington University in 2016 and continued at WWU as a Research Associate for several years. My previous research has focused primarily on blue carbon, studying soil carbon sequestration rates in Pacific Northwest estuaries and in United Arab Emirates mangroves, in addition to monitoring and modeling vegetation and sediment dynamics in relation to estuary restoration and sea level rise. I am currently interested in studying greenhouse gas fluxes in Pacific Northwest tidal wetlands – particularly how they respond to ecosystem restoration and climate change – to ultimately better understand the value of tidal wetland management actions as natural climate solutions.

Sarah Russell, Ph.D. student
I received a BS in Biological Sciences from Wellesley College in 2017, then worked as an ecosystem ecology field technician and research assistant before moving to Vancouver. I am interested in land-atmosphere carbon dynamics and am particularly interested in quantifying the terrestrial carbon sink. My research at UBC involves modeling greenhouse gas fluxes from restored tidal wetlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Darian Ng, M.Sc. student
I received a BSc in Atmospheric Science from the University of British Columbia in 2021. I have spent research terms at UBC studying effects of climate change on intertidal ecology, cloud microphysics and precipitation modelling, and methane emission hotspots in wetlands. I’m interested in investigating environmental drivers of land-atmosphere greenhouse gas exchange and how they might respond to changing climate conditions. During my MSc, I plan to further examine the controls of wetland methane emissions and better understand how we can effectively manage wetlands as natural climate solutions.

Hehan (Zoe) Zhang, M.Sc. student

I am currently an undergraduate student majoring in Environmental Science and minoring in Economics at the University of British Columbia. My thesis is studying the effects of postfire recovery on greenhouse gas fluxes in a peatland using chamber measurements. I am particularly interested in investigating land-atmosphere exchanges of greenhouse gas fluxes in disturbed wetland ecosystems and assessing the ecological response of the wetlands after different management practices. I am motivated to obtain more training on climate science topics as a graduate student and explore the effective management practices on wetland restoration.

Adin Litman, B.Sc. student

I am currently a 4th year undergraduate student majoring in Atmospheric Science at UBC. I am working on a direct studies under the supervision of Dr. Knox and Zoe Zhang that researches the impact of heatwaves on greenhouse gas exchange at Burns Bog. I have always been passionate about weather patterns and the environment, and hope to pursue a career in meteorology. In my free time, I enjoy skiing and spending time at the beach.