Cleo Chou
Cleo’s research is on the relationship between nutrient and carbon cycling in lowland tropical rainforests, with a focus on trees. She incorporates the effects of ecological competition and species traits to understand nutrient limitation of the growth of tropical forests, an important carbon sink. To do this, she uses a combination of theoretical modeling and field measurements and experiments in the forest of Costa Rica. Broadly, her interests include forest dynamics, nutrient and carbon cycles, tropical forest ecology and conservation, and the role of biodiversity and species traits in these topics, as well as the intersection between science and environmental policy.