Jeffrey Wood grew up in a small town in rural Nova Scotia, Canada. After earning BS (chemistry), MS (environmental engineering), and PhD (environmental science) degrees in Canada, he moved to the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities where he was a postdoc for 3 years in the Biometeorology Group. In 2016, he joined Mizzou, initially as an assistant research professor in the School of Natural Resources, and co-PI of the Missouri Ozark AmeriFlux (MOFLUX) site in collaboration with scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Since 2021, he’s been an assistant professor in SNR.
Jeff’s interdisciplinary research interests lie under the umbrella of ecosystem science, and more specifically are focused on understanding how ecosystems interact with weather and climate. He is particularly interested in how disturbances like drought influence the functioning of ecosystems during and after the event. He collaborates closely with plant and soil scientists, ecologists, hydrologists, remote sensing scientists, and modelers.
Jeff’s teaching involves courses that cover how organisms and ecosystems interact with the environment. He teaches tree physiology (FOREST 2340), environmental biophysics (ATM_SC 4520 / ATM_SC 7520), microclimatology (ATM_SC 4400 / ATM_SC 7400), and plant water relations (FOREST 8620).
Jeff enjoys reading, and photography, and has recently taken up graphic design as a hobby.
Sami Overby joined the MOFLUX team as the Research Specialist in June of 2023. He coordinates routine monitoring efforts and special projects and provides technical and logistical assistance to our researchers and students. Sami graduated from Brown University in 2017 with a degree in Geology-Biology. His research there explored intracellular nitrogen storage in the coastal wetlands of southern Rhode Island and the relationship between fertilization application technique and NOx flux from soil. He also completed an internship at Cornell University’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in 2016 researching the impact of pesticides on soil respiration. His work since then includes nonprofit volunteer management, teaching, and compliance. At MOFLUX, Sami is a contributor to a number of projects. There’s a good chance you’ll find Sami in the transects at MOFLUX taking photos of insects, fungus, and other curiosities or listening for birds with the Merlin app between tasks.
Sally Werth grew up in Saint Charles, Missouri, and is in her junior year at Mizzou. She joined the MOFLUX crew in 2023 as a research assistant, and currently helps with collecting woody debris and litter samples for data collection and other routine monitoring efforts. Sally is excited to be learning more about using and maintaining the equipment at Basket Forest and to began her own undergraduate research project on soil thermal conductivity in the summer of 2024. She plans on graduating from Mizzou in 2026 and intends to pursue a career researching microbiology for sustainable development. Her hobbies include hiking, watching The Bachelor with her roommates, and playing soccer with her friends.
Emmy Chirpich is a masters student studying biometeorology. She is originally from Kansas City and graduated with her B.S. in atmospheric sciences from Mizzou in 2024. Her research focuses on predicting and modeling the surface energy imbalance in different ecosystems, and understanding what features, physical and biological, are feeding the discrepancy. She plans to earn her masters degree in 2026, and in the meantime is enjoying doing fieldwork and being out at Baskett.
Fatima Laraib is a PhD student in water resources. She graduated with a B.S. In Biological Sciences from the University of Mississippi in 2021. Her undergraduate research focused on species diversity of the understory and overstory in long-term monitoring plots at the University of Mississippi Field Station. She joined Mizzou in the summer of 2022, and her current research focuses on water cycles in agroecosystems, specifically studying plant hydraulics. Her hobbies include crafting, hiking, and obsessing over chickens.
I earned my PhD in Physics, specializing in Atmospheric Physics, from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. My doctoral research focused on the measurement and modeling of sensible heat flux in a tropical environment. I conducted extensive field measurements on the sensible heat flux, mean meteorological parameters and I parameterized selected empirical schemes for calculating sensible heat flux in a tropical location. My work provided a validated empirical relationship for calculating sensible heat flux in tropical regions, which plays a crucial role in understanding energy exchanges within the Earth-atmosphere system. This research has practical applications in agriculture, hydrology, and climate studies.
Currently, I work with the LTAR eddy covariance group and my research focuses on how sustainable agricultural practices can improve the resilience of agroecosystems and enhance productivity. My work integrates carbon flux measurements, climate data, and land management analysis to understand the dynamics of agroecosystem productivity under changing environmental conditions.
-Omodara E. Obisesan
Former team members:
Grace Cochran, MS 2024
Hunter Seubert, MS 2024
Bella Kamplain, Undergraduate 2024
Alexis Chandler, Undergraduate 2022
Seth Greer, MS 2019
George Sarafianos, Undergraduate 2019
Daniel Scheperle, Undergraduate 2019
Drew Anderson, Undergraduate 2019
Luke Eaton, Undergraduate 2018
Brian Widmer, Staff
MOFLUX 