Profile of Dr. Sarah E. Hobbie

Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
University of Minnesota
1987 Upper Buford Circle
St. Paul MN 55108h
Phone: (612) 625-6269
shobbie@umn.edu

Current Position: Associate Professor, University of Minnesota

Education: Ph.D. Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, 1995

Dr. Sarah Hobbie’s research focuses on two main areas: the influence of changes in atmospheric composition, climate, land use, and plant species composition on ecosystem processes; and the effects of urbanization on biogeochemical cycles. In the area of global change, she is researching how atmospheric nitrogen inputs affect decomposition; how variation in biodiversity, atmospheric carbon dioxide, nitrogen inputs, and precipitation influence grassland ecosystems; and how warming influences the establishment of boreal and temperate trees at the southern boreal-temperate forest ecotone. In the area of socio-ecological effects of urbanization, she is collaborating with engineers and social scientists to understand how human choices influence the cycling of elements through households in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, as well as the factors that influence household decisions relevant to biogeochemical cycling. Dr. Hobbie is active in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, with ongoing research at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. She also serves on the LTER Executive Board. She is an Aldo Leopold Fellow and has served on the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis Center’s Science Advisory Board and on several NSF panels. Most recently, she has contributed to a report for the Minnesota State Legislature evaluating the potential for Minnesota’s terrestrial ecosystems to sequester carbon, and thus offset emissions from fossil fuel combustion.