Alex Hedgpeth

Alex Hedgpeth is a postdoctoral scholar in Earth System Science at Stanford University. Formerly a Ph.D. researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, her work focuses on soil carbon cycling in peatlands and its response to environmental change, with emphasis on carbon storage dynamics and greenhouse gas production in tropical and boreal wetlands.

Her research integrates

• field measurements in Arctic ombrotrophic bogs and Central American tropical peat domes
• laboratory experiments using radiocarbon dating, stable isotope analyses, and high-resolution molecular characterization
• global dataset synthesis for modeling peatland carbon responses under climate change scenarios

through collaborations with DOE, NSF, national laboratories, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

Her interdisciplinary approach targets high-uncertainty questions about biogeochemical thresholds and deep soil carbon persistence under hydrologic shifts, aiming to clarify peatlands' dual role as carbon sinks and potential atmospheric CO₂/CH₄ sources.