Matt Davies, assistant professor in soil and plant community restoration, has joined the school’s faculty where he will develop and lead a research program focused on developing methods to restore and manage degraded ecosystems.
Matt joins The Ohio State University after completing post-doctoral research at the University of Washington in Seattle and, most recently, a lectureship at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. At the University of Glasgow, Matt taught courses on environmental research methods, restoration ecology, and earth system science. His research focused on the management and restoration of peatland ecosystems and included studies on the effects of grazing and how wildfires impact on release of carbon from temperate peatlands.
While at the University of Washington, Matt conducted research on the effects of wildfires on sagebrush ecosystems. This research contributed a better understanding of how repeated wildfires lead to the loss of native habitats and the effectiveness of efforts to restore them. This research laid the ground work for a new approach to modeling changes in ecosystem state that Matt is currently testing as a potential management tool. Matt has also completed research work on ecosystem management in Malawi and Bolivia.
Matt is looking forward to his work here at Ohio State and is excited about the opportunity to inform restoration practices and develop tools for fire and land managers.
January 2015.