Samantha Hartzell
Hartzell focuses her research on understanding the ecohydrology of water-limited ecosystems, including deserts, tundra and rainforest canopies. She is particularly interested in Crassulacean acid metabolism, or CAM photosynthesis, which is an ecological adaptation that affords plants in arid conditions a 500 percent increase in water-use efficiency. Her adviser is Amilcare Porporato, the Thomas J. Wu ’94 Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and professor of civil and environmental engineering and the Princeton Environmental Institute.