Leslie Brandt

Leslie A. Brandt

Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
100 Ecology Building
1987 Upper Buford Circle
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55108
651-491-3529
brand142@umn.edu

Education

University of Minnesota
September 2003-present
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior

Gustavus Adolphus College (1998-2002)
B.A., Biology 2002
Magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Research Experience

Dissertation Research, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota. Title: Photodegradation as a factor in the decomposition of surface litter in grassland ecosystems. Advisor: Dr. Jennifer King. (9/2003-present)

Research Assistant, Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota (6/2003-8/2003)

Intern, Conservation Science, Chicago Botanic Garden (6/2002-6/2003)
Independent Research: Fine-Scale Genetic Structure of Viola conspersa

Research Experience for Undergraduates, Horn Point Laboratory, Cambridge, MD
Project Title: Periphyton as UV filters on seagrass leaves (5/2001-8/2001)

Laboratory Assistant, Biology Department, Gustavus Adolphus College (9/2000-5/2001)
Project Title: Effects of burning and mowing on prairie plant diversity

Intern, BioCON project, Cedar Creek Natural History Area (6/2000-8/2000)

Teaching Experience

Teaching assistant, Ecology of Vegetation (EEB 4014W), University of Minnesota (9/2004-12/2004, 9/2005-present)

Taught upper level undergraduate and beginning graduate students to identify over 100 plant species native to Minnesota.
Evaluated students using field identification quizzes.
Graded student writing and problem sets.
Helped students learn multivariate statistics.

Teaching assistant, Ecology (Bio 3407), University of Minnesota (1/2005-5/2005)

Guest lectured on biogeochemistry for 125 junior and senior biology majors.
Led discussions in lab on how to read and write scientific papers.
Evaluated student writing of research papers.
Graded and aided in the design of student exams.
Taught students how to use statistics to interpret scientific data.

Teaching assistant, Evolution, Ecology and Behavior Lab, Biology Department, Gustavus Adolphus College (2/2001-5/2001)

Teaching assistant, General and Organic Chemistry Labs, Chemistry Department, Gustavus Adolphus College (9/1999-12/2000)

Publications

Brandt, L.A., J.Y. King, and D.G. Milchunas. 2007. Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation on Litter Decomposition Depend on Precipitation and Litter Chemistry in a Shortgrass Steppe Ecosystem. Global Change Biology 13: 2193–2205.

Parton W, Silver W.L., Burke I.C., Grassens L., Harmon M.E., Currie W.S., King J.Y., Adair E.C., Brandt L.A., Hart S.C., Fasth B. 2007. Global-Scale Similarities in Nitrogen Release Patterns During Long-Term Decomposition. Science 315: 361 – 364

Brandt, L.A. and E.W. Koch. 2003. Periphyton as a UV-B filter on seagrass leaves; a result of different transmittance in the UV-B and PAR ranges. Aquatic Botany. 76: 317-327.

Brandt, L.A., C. Bohnet, and J.Y. King. Photochemically-induced carbon dioxide production as a mechanism for carbon loss from plant litter in arid ecosystems. In review.

Presentations

Brandt, L., C. Bohnet, and J. King. Photochemical mineralization to carbon dioxide as a mechanism for plant litter decomposition in arid ecosystems. 2008 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Milwaukee, WI.

Brandt, L., C. Bohnet, and J. King. Quantifying carbon dioxide fluxes from photodegrading plant litter in arid ecosystems. 2007 American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting. San Francisco, CA.

Brandt, L. , J. King, D. Milchunas, R. Sinsabaugh, S. Hobbie, and W. Parton. Effects of ultraviolet radiation on the early stages of litter decomposition in three contrasting grassland ecosystems. 2007 Ecological Society of America Meeting, San Jose, CA.

Brandt, L. The role of photodegradation in grassland surface litter decomposition. Poster. 2006 EPA STAR Conference, Washington, DC.

Brandt, L, J. King, D.G. Milchunas, R. Sinsabaugh, S. Hobbie, and W. Parton. Does photodegradation contribute to surface litter decomposition in grassland ecosystems? Poster. 2006 LTER All-Scientists Meeting, Estes Park, CO.

Brandt, L., J. King and D. Milchunas. Effects of UV radiation, moisture, and litter chemistry on decomposition in shortgrass steppe. 2006 Ecological Society of America Meeting, Memphis, TN.

Brandt, L., J. King and D. Milchunas. Poster. Direct and indirect effects of UV radiation on decomposition in shorgrass steppe. 2004 Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting. Seattle, WA

Brandt, L. A., P. Vitt, K. Bradford and J. Taylor. Population genetic structure of Viola conspersa. Poster. 2003 Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference. Akron, OH.

Brandt, L.A. and E.W. Koch. Periphyton: Sunscreen for seagrasses? Poster. 2004 IAI-CRN UV project meeting, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Brandt, L.A. and E.W. Koch. Epiphytic algae as UV filters on seagrass leaves. Poster. 2002 ASLO/AGU Ocean Sciences Conference. Honolulu, Hawaii.

Fellowships and Scholarships

EPA STAR Fellowship (2006-2009)
Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (2004, 2005)
University of Minnesota Graduate School Fellowship (2003-2004)
North Shore Garden Club Merit Award (2002)
Partners in Scholarship Award, Gustavus Adolphus College (1998-2002)

Grants

Grant to attend AMS Summer Policy Colloquium (2008) $1,500
University of Minnesota Graduate School Doctoral Dissertation Grant (2006) $2,500
NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (2006) $10,800
Dayton-Wilkie Natural History Funds (2005) $1000
Carolyn Crosby Fellowship (2005) $3000
GAPSA travel grant (2004) $300
Florence Rothman Fellowship (2004) $1000
Sigma Xi Grant-in-aid of Research (2004) $200

Public Policy Experience

Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellowship (2008)

Public Policy Research Internship, The Nature Conservancy (2008)

American Meteorological Society Summer Policy Colloquium (2008)

Environmental Policy Internship, Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy (2008)

Service

Publication Reviewer

Ecosystems

Rangeland Ecology and Management

Moderator, 2006 Minnesota Academy of Sciences Regional Science Bowl.

TA Liaison, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota (9/2005-present)

Ethics and Aesthetics Committee, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota (9/2004-5/2005)

Organized a panel discussion on the ethics of authorship.

Friday Noon Seminar Committee, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota (9/2003-5/2004)

Mentor, College of Biological Sciences Mentoring Program (10/2003-05/2004)

Professional Development

Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry, Short Course, Michigan State University, 2008

Teaching Writing in Biology Course, Spring 2007

Preparing Future Faculty, University of Minnesota

Practicum for Future Faculty (3-credit course), Fall 2006
Teaching in Higher Education (3-credit course) Fall 2005

Mentoring Experience

Sarah Graves, Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, University of Minnesota
Title: Ammonia volatilization from photodegrading plant litter

Cassandra Bohnet, Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Program, U of MN
Title: Influence of wavelength on photochemically-induced carbon dioxide fluxes

Memberships

American Geophysical Union

American Meteorological Society

Sigma Xi (inducted 2004)

Ecological Society of America

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.