Mingzhen Lu (PI)

Mingzhen Lu is an ecologist and complexity scientist. His research seeks to unearth the simple rules that give rise to the complex dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems and their coupled human urban systems. Specific research topics include i) examining the role of plant roots in shaping global biogeochemistry, ii) understanding plant-microbial symbioses and their global significance, iii) investigating ecological regime shifts using the lens of plant-trait-resource feedback, and more recently iv) developing a general system-based theory that can bridge ecosystem ecology and urban science.

Mingzhen’s fieldwork systems include the South African Cape Floristic Kingdom, Alaskan Tundra, Tibetan grassland, etc. Prior to NYU, Mingzhen was an Omidyar Complexity Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute (2020-2023), where he worked on applying toolkits from ecosystem ecology for better understanding urban material flows. He is a board member of SinoEco, and member of Sigma Xi, Ecological Society of America, and the American Geophysical Union.

• Ph.D Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (2018) Princeton University

• B.S. Physical Geography (2012) Peking University

José Ignacio Arroyo

Postdoctoral Research Scholar

Ignacio is a mathematical and computational biologist. He is interested in studying complex systems, from the molecular to the socio-economic level, using theoretical approaches to explain and predict their behavior. This endeavor often involves making large databases, statistical/computational analyses, and developing mathematical models. He obtained his Ph.D. from Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, under the supervision of Pablo Marquet. He currently works with Mingzhen on projects broadly related to global biogeochemistry. One of the current project aims to better understand the chemical fabric that underlies the living and nonliving materials, and their implications for carbon solutions. He is also a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute, where he works with Chris Kempes and Geoffrey West in Scaling Theory, among other problems. You can read more about his work here: https://sites.google.com/view/jiarroyo/bio.

Aiyu Zheng 

Postdoctoral Associate

Aiyu is a forest ecologist interested in exploring the multi-scale ecological consequences of plant life histories, growth, and reproductive strategies using mathematical models and empirical work. Her research focuses on a unique group of forest grasses, bamboo, to establish a theoretical framework that explains and predicts arrested succession—when a system fails to recover its structure or function from disturbances, whether internal or external. She is working on applying the framework to diverse ecosystems, ranging from forests affected by wildfires, semi-arid grasslands impacted by grazing, to urban systems varying in socioeconomic development.

Aiyu earned her undergraduate degree from Colorado College in Integrated Environmental Science in 2018 and got her PhD degree in 2024 from Princeton University working with Stephen Pacala.

You can read more about her work here: https://aiyuzheng.com/

Steve Caron

Postdoctoral Associate

Steve is a forest biogeochemist who is interested in exploring how global change influences the key nutrient cycles which dictate ecosystem function and carbon storage. His research is focused on the impacts of urbanization, forest fragmentation, and changing seasonality on the nitrogen cycle in temperate deciduous forests. His work uses field observations and experimentation carried out over varied temporal and spatial scales to reveal how climate and land use change interact with carbon and nitrogen dynamics.

Steve joined the lab as a Postdoctoral Associate in November 2024. He earned his bachelor’s degree in environmental Analysis and Policy from Boston University in 2016, and gained further experience in field ecology with the National Park Service and US Forest Service throughout the western US until 2019. He got his PhD degree (2024) in Biology from Boston University working with Pamela Templer.

Jingkang Liao

Graduate Student Affiliate

Jingkang Liao is a 4rd-year PhD student in the College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University. His research employs molecular techniques and ecological theory to study the intricate interactions among subsurface flora and fauna in grassland ecosystems impacted by climate change, with a specific focus on: i) Quantitative analysis of plant root communities using DNA barcoding, ii) studying the effects of warming and rainfall patterns on root turnover in alpine meadows, and iii) investigating climate-induced changes in root secretion and compound composition in meadow plants.

Jingkang’s fieldwork spans the beautiful alpine meadows of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. He is also an self-taught myrmecologist, avid swimmer, and a Ping-pang coach.

• B.S. in Ecology (2021), Lanzhou University

Jacob Levine

Visiting Scholar

Jacob is a plant community ecologist interested in the controls over biodiversity, ecosystem function, and global change responses. He specializes in developing and empirically validating mathematical models which bridge ecophysiology, demography, and ecosystem function to capture the dynamics of diverse plant communities. Jacob aims to marry theoretical and empirical approaches to ecology, leveraging state-of-the-art techniques in applied math, statistical inference, software engineering, and high-performance computing as well as experimental design, remote sensing and data science. Jacob earned his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and got his PhD degree from Princeton University in May 2024, where he worked with Drs. Stephen Pacala and Jonathan Levine.