International Center University of Florida

The Arctic is warming at a rate 3-4 times the global average resulting in significant loss of ice cover both on land and sea. The loss of ice cover on landscapes provides opportunities for microbes and plants to colonize newly exposed surfaces. Ezukanma seeks to understand the connection between plant communities on the landscape and the mineral element composition of the adjoining watersheds along a gradient from recently delgaciated sites to those deglaciated ~10kya. Ezukanma will present some broader implications of the team’s work, as well as his own experience as an African researcher in the Arctic.