Associate Professor
Departments of Plant Biology and Geology, Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Council
University of Illinois
265 Morrill Hall
505 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801

(217)244-2982 (voice), (217)244-7246 (FAX)
fshu@life.uiuc.edu

• Plant Biology faculty web page
• Curriculum Vitae (pdf file)

Ecosystem ecology; Quaternary paleoecology; climatic change and biotic response; soil and sediment biogeochemistry

I am a broadly trained ecologist working at the interfaces of biological, geological and climatological sciences. The overall objective of my research is to understand patterns and mechanisms of long-term ecosystem dynamics under changing climatic conditions. To achieve this objective, I use "the natural experiments of the past" that are archived in geological deposits. These deposits offer a long-term holistic perspective into past environmental conditions, some of which do not exist today but may be analogs of different climatic conditions in the future. In pursuing my research interests, I have
integrated traditional paleoecological techniques (e.g., pollen analysis) and state-of-the-art analytical tools (e.g., biomarker, stable-isotope, and chloroplast-DNA techniques).