Dr. Andrew Felton
I am the Principal Investigator of the Environmental Systems Science Laboratory and an Assistant Professor within the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at Montana State University. I am a broadly trained plant and ecosystems ecologist with disciplinary expertise in plant-water relations within water-limited ‘dryland’ regions, such as grasslands, deserts, and rangelands. I am interested in understanding the consequences of increasing climatic variability on plant ecological processes in drylands, from leaf physiology to ecosystem primary production. I earned my PhD in ecology from Colorado State University. I was then a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Utah State University and a USDA-NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow at Chapman University.
Graduate Students
Rennie Winkelman
I am a graduate student pursuing a PhD in Ecology and Environmental Science at Montana State University. I am originally from Colorado, but now I call the Mission Valley, MT my home. In my free time, you can find me hiking, kayaking, and fishing with my dogs. I have a B.S. in Wildlife Biology and an M.A. in Education, both from the University of Montana. Currently, I am a faculty member in the Life Sciences Department at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, MT. This has allowed me to merge my love of science and education, and I am excited to bring more research opportunities to my students once I earn my PhD. I am interested in large-scale ecosystem ecology, and the effects of climate change on ecosystem processes. I am excited to be a part of the Environmental Systems Science Laboratory.
Research Assistants
Isabella (Izzy) Goodman
I am a research assistant working for the Environmental Systems Science Lab under Dr. Andrew Felton. I am originally from Alaska but just finished my undergrad here at Montana State University. I graduated with a B.S in Conservation Biology and Ecology and a minor in statistics. I am passionate about ecology, climate science, and data science, and I am excited to be working in the lab and furthering my education and career.
