BU Project GLACIER

	Rebecca Sanders-DeMott Degree Sought : Ph.D. in Biology Research Focus: Forest Ecosystem Biology and Biogeochemistry School Name : John D. O'Bryant School Teaching Partner: Berinda Malden Rebecca 's Project GLACIER Site
Rebecca Sanders-DeMott is a 2nd year PhD student studying the roles that forest plants may play in altering biogeochemical cycling of critical nutrients, nitrogen and calcium, as a result of climate change. Warmer winters in the northeast United States may lead to a smaller winter snowpack, exposing soils to cold air and an increased frequency of freeze and thaw cycles. Her research at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in NH focuses on how increased cycles of soil freezing and thawing, in addition to longer and warmer summers, will impact how plants interact with their biogeochemical environment.
Her teaching partner is Berinda Malden at the John D. O`Bryant School in Roxbury. Berinda has over twenty years experience in Boston Public Schools and is very focused on providing her students with an excellent education in biology, along with other disciplines of science. This year, Rebecca and Berinda are working to integrate forest ecosystems as a model system in the classroom to demonsrtrate practical understanding of concepts in the BPS 8th grade science curriculum: Populations and Ecosystems, Chemical Interactions, and Planetary Science.