Lydia’s research is rooted in two coupled questions: how does climate influence terrestrial ecosystems and how do terrestrial ecosystems influence climate? To investigate these questions, Lydia studies soil carbon turnover rates, decomposition processes, and their biogeochemical controls. Using isotopic methods in field experiments and across natural gradients, she has been studying ecosystem-climate feedbacks in Arctic Alaska with a cross-disciplinary team of field and lab scientists and modelers. By improving model representations of ecosystem processes, Lydia hopes her research will help predict and monitor changes to sensitive Arctic ecosystems.