معرفی
James W Dalling is a Professor in the Department of Plant Biology at the School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, serving as Director of the Integrative Biology Honors Program. He holds additional affiliate professorships at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the Center for Global Studies.
His academic credentials include a B.A. from Oxford University (1988) and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University (1992).
Dr. Dalling's research centers on tropical forest ecology with three interconnected pillars:
- Plant-soil and plant-fungal interactions driving community assembly
- Seed ecology and forest dynamics across environmental gradients
- Nutrient cycling mechanisms in nutrient-poor tropical soils
His 2025 publications reveal converging trends in understanding how mycorrhizal networks, soil nutrient constraints, and species life histories collectively determine forest responses to climate change and invasive disturbances across tropical and temperate biomes.
Major recognitions include:
- Delcomyn Professorial Scholar award
- Visiting Fellowship at Magdalen College, Oxford
- Beaufort Visiting Fellowship at St John's College, Cambridge
Dr. Dalling advises graduate students and leads collaborative research funded through the Student Sustainability Committee (for Illinois fieldwork) and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute partnerships. His lab coordinates international teams across multiple long-term forest monitoring sites.
The Dalling Lab maintains permanent research infrastructure at Barro Colorado Island (Panama), Fortuna field station, and Trelease Woods Forest Dynamics Plot in Illinois, supporting cross-continental studies of forest regeneration and soil-plant feedbacks.
