Erika Marín-Spiotta is a biogeochemist and ecosystem ecologist. She is currently

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. She is best-known for her research of the terrestrial carbon cycle and is an advocate for underrepresented groups in the sciences, specifically women.

Early life and education

Marín-Spiotta grew up in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. She became interested in her area of study and spending time outside with her family, visiting archeological sites. In 1997, she graduated from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

with a B.S. in

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

with a Minor in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

.Marín-Spiotta, Erika.
Erika Marín-Spiotta Curriculum Vitae
". marinspiotta.wordpress.com/people. Retrieved 2018-11-08. Nine years later, Marín-Spiotta completed her Ph.D. of Ecosystem Science from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. Her thesis, “Controls on above and belowground carbon storage during tropical reforestation,” contributed to her field as it discussed how changes in land use affect

carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. It plays a crucial role in Climate change mitigation, limiting climate change by reducing the amount of Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere, carbon dioxide in the atmosphe ...

in soil and how the establishment of

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

s can contribute to biodiversity conservation. During her time at

UC-Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley ...

, she was a Graduate Research Environmental Fellow for the

Department of Energy A ministry of energy or department of energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rela ...

Career

After working as a NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Geography at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

, Marín-Spiotta joined the faculty at UW-Madison in 2009 as an Assistant Professor in Geography. In the following years, she also became an affiliate of the Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies Program and Center for Culture, History, and the Environment, the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and the Departments of Soil Science and Forest and Wildlife Ecology. Marín-Spiotta was promoted to

Associate Professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

in 2015 and to Professor in 2019 in the Department of Geography. In 2019, Marin-Spiotta was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers (

PECASE The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages ...

Research

Marín-Spiotta focuses on the ways in which both human-caused land use and climate changes affect biodiversity, biomass, and the biogeochemistry of the atmosphere, water, and soil, in particular as related to terrestrial carbon cycling. Her research offers insight into a variety of fields and the intersections between them, including

soil science Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth including soil formation, soil classification, classification and Soil survey, mapping; Soil physics, physical, Soil chemistry, chemical, Soil biology, biologica ...

biogeochemistry Biogeochemistry is the Branches of science, scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemistry, chemical, physics, physical, geology, geological, and biology, biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natu ...

ecosystem ecology Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of living ( biotic) and non-living ( abiotic) components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components ...

, and

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

. Specifically, much of her research looks at these impacts in tropical ecosystems and the strength and ability of forests in different stages of

succession Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...

to store and sequester

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

. More recently, Marín-Spiotta has conducted research about

paleosol In Earth science, geoscience, paleosol (''palaeosol'' in Great Britain and Australia) is an ancient soil that formed in the past. The definition of the term in geology and paleontology is slightly different from its use in soil science. In geo ...

s and how the carbon stored in these soils could be a potential driver of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

in the future. Following this research, Marín-Spiotta and her colleague were awarded a

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

grant to continue investigating the role of deep

soil carbon Soil carbon is the solid carbon stored in global Soil, soils. This includes both soil organic matter and Inorganic compound, inorganic carbon as carbonate minerals. It is vital to the soil capacity in our ecosystem. Soil carbon is a carbon sink in ...

in the carbon cycle. Currently, Marín-Spiotta’s lab researches a variety of projects across a range of questions focused on how global change is altering ecosystems and critical global elemental cycles.

Selected publications

*Marín-Spiotta, E. 2018. Harassment should count as scientific misconduct. Nature 557: 141. *Berhe, A.A., R. Barnes, J. Six and E. Marín-Spiotta. 2018. Role of erosional mass movement on the biogeochemical cycling of essential elements: carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 46: 521-548. *Powers, J.S. and E. Marín-Spiotta. 2017. Ecosystem processes and biogeochemical cycles during secondary tropical forest succession. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 48:497-519. *Marín-Spiotta, E., N.T. Chaopricha, A. F. Plante, A.F. Diefendorf, C.W. Müller, S. Grandy and J.A. Mason. (2014).
Long-term stabilization of deep soil carbon by fire and burial during early Holocene climate change
" ''Nature'' ''Geoscience'' Vol. 7. *Marín-Spiotta, E., K.E. Gruley, J. Crawford, E.A. Atkinson, J.R. Miesel, S. Greene, C. Cardona-Correa and R.G.M. Spencer. (2014).
Paradigm shifts in soil organic matter research affect aquatic carbon turnover interpretations: Transcending disciplinary and ecosystem boundaries
" ''Biogeochemistry'' Vol. 117. * Marín-Spiotta, E. and S. Sharma. (2013).
Carbon storage in successional and plantation forest soils: a tropical analysis
" ''Global'' ''Ecology and Biogeography'' Vol. 22. *Marín-Spiotta, E., W.L. Silver, C.W. Swanston, and R. Ostertag. (2009).
Soil organic matter dynamics during 80 years of reforestation of tropical pastures
" ''Global Change Biology'' Vol. 15. *Marín-Spiotta, E., C.W. Swanston, M.S. Torn, W.L. Silver, and S.D. Burton. (2008).
Chemical and mineral control of soil carbon turnover in abandoned tropical pastures
" ''Geoderma,'' Vol. 143. * Marín-Spiotta, E., R. Ostertag, and W.L. Silver. (2007).
Long-term patterns in tropical reforestation: plant community composition and aboveground biomass accumulation
" ''Ecological'' ''Applications'' Vol. 17.

Awards and leadership

Marín-Spiotta has received many awards for her contributions in the sciences, mentorship, and inclusion. She was the Secretary of the Biogeosciences section at the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

in 2015 and 2016 and has held various other leadership and volunteer positions for the AGU. Marín-Spiotta is an advocate for underrepresented groups in the sciences and is committed to increasing awareness about sexual harassment in the field. She is a board member of the

Earth Science Women's Network Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is c ...

(ESWN) which works to mentor and support women in the geosciences. The

ADVANCE Program awarded her and a team a $1.1 million grant to investigate these issues and establish ways to further the advancement of women in STEM, specifically focusing on how bystander intervention can lead to positive results. *Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2019) *

’s

CAREER Award The National Science Foundation CAREER award is the most prestigious award presented by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States Federal Government to support junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through rese ...

(2014) * Sulzman Award for Excellence in Education and Mentoring from the

(2016) * President’s Award from the

Association for Women Geoscientists Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

(2016) * Vilas Associate Award from UW-Madison. *

Ambassador Award The Ambassador Award is one of the most prestigious union-level awards of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and recognizes individuals whose excellence and leadership in research, education, and innovation have significantly advanced Earth an ...

, American Geophysical Union (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marín-Spiotta, Erika Spanish ecologists Biogeochemists Stanford University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Spanish expatriates in the United States Year of birth missing (living people) Living people