معرفی
Sara Hotchkiss is a Professor in the Department of Botany at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, affiliated with the Nelson Institute. Her research focuses on paleoecology, climate history, and ecosystem dynamics, particularly in tropical and temperate regions. She holds a PhD in Ecology from the University of Minnesota. Her work integrates field studies and laboratory analyses to understand historical vegetation changes, disturbance regimes, and ecosystem responses to environmental shifts.
Key research projects include studies of Hawaiian montane ecosystems, fire regimes in the Great Lakes region, and the impact of invasive species like feral pigs. She collaborates with institutions such as Stanford University and the U.S. Geological Survey. Notable methods include pollen/charcoal analysis, testate amoebae studies, and remote sensing.
Her lab advises numerous graduate and undergraduate students, including current PhD candidates Shana Ederer and Soo Hyun Kim. Alumni include Dr. Kevin D. Barrett and Dr. Kristin Michels. She teaches courses in botany and ecological methods. Awards and grants include an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant for student Soo Hyun Kim.
Hotchkiss leads the Hotchkiss Lab, which explores edge effects in wilderness areas, peatland ecology, and the interplay between human activity and ecosystems. Ongoing projects involve reconstructing drought impacts in Hawaiian peatlands and analyzing substrate-age gradients in Wisconsin.
