Joshua Leffler

Title

Assistant Department Head & Associate Professor

Office Building

Edgar S. McFadden Biostress Lab

Office

141C

Mailing Address

McFadden Biostress Laboratory 141C
Natural Resource Management-Box 2140B
University Station
Brookings, SD 57007

Education

• B.S. in biology | University of Utah | 1994
• Ph.D. in biology | University of New Mexico | 1999

Academic Responsibilities

Teaching Contributions

• EES275 Introduction to Environmental Science
• RANG321 Wildland Ecosystems
• NRM464/564 Ecosystem Ecology

Committees and Professional Memberships

• Ecological Society of America
• Society for Range Management
• American Geophysical Union
• Associate Editor, Plant Ecology
• Associate Editor, Bioscience

Areas of Research

My background is in plant physiological ecology and ecosystem ecology with a research focus on arid lands, grasslands and arctic systems. In my work, I pay special attention to the impacts of climate change and land management on plant communities and greenhouse gas emissions. My research currently addresses two broad questions:

1. Do interacting components of climate change such as warming and altered precipitation patterns amplify or dampen the consequences of climate change? 
2. What are the consequences of different grazing technologies and schemes for carbon and nitrogen processes on rangelands?