zhuwpadmin

It was a wonderful experience to reconnect with colleagues, mentors, and friends at the Clark Lab & Descendants gathering during the 2025 Ecological Society of America (ESA) Annual Meeting in Baltimore. As Kai’s Ph.D. advisor at Duke University, Jim Clark has fostered a vibrant and far-reaching academic family, and this event brought together current lab members, alumni, and “grandstudents” for an evening filled with lively conversation, laughter, and exciting discussions about new research directions. Zhu [...]

From: Michigan News New paper: Wu R, Song Y, Head JR, Katz DS, Peay KG, Shedden K, Zhu K (2025) Fungal spore seasons advanced across the US over two decades of climate change. GeoHealth, 9, e2024GH001323. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GH001323 A first-of-its-kind study led by the University of Michigan has ‘implications for both ecosystem processes and human health’ Although many of us spend allergy season cursing out plant pollen, spores from mold and other fungi also deserve some of that same disdain. These invisibly [...]

From May 5 to 9, members of the lab attended the Ecological Acclimation workshop, hosted at U-M through the IGCB. The workshop featured multiple brainstorming sessions on projects related to ecological community responses to global change and the resulting impacts on ecosystem function. Kara Dobson led two sessions focused on climate change experiments and forest sensitivities to climate.

The lab hosted Andrew Finley from Michigan State University on April 4, 2025.

The SEAS PhD and Postdoc Program, in collaboration with the Zhu Lab, recently hosted a highly informative seminar featuring Dr. Bianca Lopez, Associate Editor at Science. Her visit provided an in-depth look into the complex world of scientific publishing. During her presentation, titled "Publishing in Science: Insights from a Professional Editor," Dr. Lopez shared valuable insights into the publication process at Science. Attendees gained a deeper understanding of what makes a successful submission and how [...]

The lab hosted Jon Wang from the University of Utah on March 14, 2025.

Published on January 5, 2025 in Santa Cruz Sentinel By Rita Aksenfeld, newsroom@santacruzsentinel.com You might think watching grass grow is boring, but grasslands have a lot to tell us about climate change. While it might take years for forests to respond to climate change, California’s grasslands are constantly adapting to their new, warmer environment. The regions across the state where different grasses and wildflowers grow, called the California Floristic Province, host thousands of native and [...]

Published on December 8, 2024 in Monterey Herald By Anna FitzGerald Guth, newsroom@montereyherald.com John Steinbeck once described the corridor between Monterey and Salinas as the “pastures of heaven” for the grasslands flowering with blazing orange California poppies and other local species. But his poetic description now serves as just a snapshot in time of a changing landscape. Climate change is altering regional grasslands at remarkable speed as species that thrive in hotter, drier conditions dominate [...]

From: Michigan News New paper: Zhu K, Song Y, Lesage JC, Luong JC, Bartolome JW, Chiariello NR, Dudney J, Field CB, Hallett LM, Hammond M, Harrison SP, Hayes GF, Hobbs RJ, Holl KD, Hopkinson P, Larios L, Loik ME, Prugh LR (2024) Rapid shifts in grassland communities driven by climate change. Nature Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02552-z Although all ecosystems are affected by a changing climate, the impacts can take a while to appear. Changes in [...]

On September 26-27, 2024, the lab (coordinated by Yiluan Song) was pleased to host Dr. Tong Qiu from Duke University. During his visit to MIDAS and IGCB, Dr. Qiu presented a seminar titled "Forest regeneration in a rapidly changing world: Consumers, habitat, and climate change." His seminar focused on the impacts of climate and habitat changes on seed production. In addition to the seminar, Dr. Qiu led a workshop on "Joint species distribution model to [...]