Dr. Jennifer Fraterrigo

Biography

Jennifer M. Fraterrigo is a Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Her research program has a dual focus: (1) to generate knowledge necessary to predict how ecosystems and the services they provide are affected by environmental change, and (2) to employ this information to support decision-making aimed at enhancing ecosystem and landscape resilience. To achieve these goals, she integrates observational and experimental field studies with statistical modeling and innovative spatial analyses to synthesize information about ecological processes operating across various spatial and temporal scales. Her work addresses critical knowledge gaps related to climate change and global change drivers that are impacting vegetation dynamics and ecosystem functioning. For instance, her research in the Arctic examines how tundra plant communities are responding to climate warming, including the consequences for carbon and nitrogen cycling. Additionally, she investigates the drivers and effects of non-native plant and insect invasions and their impact on forest biodiversity, structure, and function, which has led to the development of new frameworks for managing invasion impacts in temperate forest ecosystems. Her work also focuses on improving land management practices to reduce nonpoint source pollution in agriculture by exploring the geomorphic and hydrologic processes that control the spatial distribution and mobilization of nutrients, especially phosphorus. This research has substantial relevance for enhancing water quality protection and informing policy makers and agricultural producers.

Research Interests