My research explores the consequences of climate change on boreal-Arctic ecosystems. Our lab’s key research goals include improving estimates of northern ecosystem greenhouse gas exchange and understanding the role of natural and human disturbances on terrestrial and freshwater biogeochemistry. Prior to joining UBC, I completed a PhD in Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta and worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of New Hampshire and Woodwell Climate Research Center.

To better understand the response of boreal-Arctic ecosystems to climate change our group focuses on three key research areas:

1. The exchange of carbon and greenhouse gases between freshwaters, plants, soils, and the atmosphere
2. The influence of disturbances and management on freshwater carbon and nutrient cycling
3. The interactions of between northern freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems and global change.

For example, we ask, how do wildfire and permafrost thaw influence carbon cycling and water quality in boreal lakes? How will the alpine tundra methane sink be altered by warming temperature and shifts in vegetation composition? What are the microbial processes that underlie increasing methane emissions from wetlands? Can we use statistical models to predict how greenhouse gas exchange from northern ecosystems will change in the future? To address these research themes, we use a variety of field and laboratory-based approaches, data synthesis, statistical model development, and remote sensing tools. Some of our field and laboratory approaches include soil and sediment sampling, vegetation surveys, stable isotope analysis, portable greenhouse gas flux chambers, soil/sediment incubations, dissolved carbon and nutrient analysis, microbial DNA sequencing, soil organic carbon analysis, and remote sensing.

2026

Wadham, J. L., G. Lamarche-Gagnon, S. Arndt, E. A. Bagshaw, S. Garcia-Yao, D. Goldberg, J. R. Hawkings, K. Hendry, R. G. Hilton, G. Hugelius, F. M. Monteiro, J. Ramage, M. Winsborrow, J. R. Zondervan, J. Hauck, L. Gregor, S. Yasunaka, G. G. Laruelle, J. A. Rosentreter, M. Kuhn, and B. Poulter. 2026. An Ice Sheet-to-Ocean Analysis of Carbon Stores and Fluxes in Earth’s Polar Regions (RECCAP2, Polar Ice Sheets). Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 40(2). doi: 10.1029/2025GB008677

Watts, J. D., E. Ordway, S. L. Malone, Q. Zhu, P. I. Palmer, D. Patel-Tupper, P. Ciais, F. Li, D. R. Monteverde, K. A. Arndt, L. Bruhwiler, B. Buma, H. Cadillo-Quiroz, E. Euskirchen, A. M. Hoyt, M. Holgerson, G. Hugelius, R. B. Jackson, D. Jacob, M. Kuhn, S. M. Natali, S. Peng, C. R. Perryman, B. Poulter, C. Rey-Sánchez, L. B. Sagang, E. A. G. Schuur, R. K. Varner, and R. Vargas. 2026. A global methane observation system to track climate feedbacks for verifiable climate impact. Science, 391(6792), 1324–1327. doi: 10.1126/science.aef0459

2025

Vogt, J., M. M. T. A. Pallandt, L. S. Basso, A. Bolek, K. Ivanova, M. Schlutow, G. Celis, M. Kuhn, M. Mauritz, E. A. G. Schuur, K. Arndt, A.-M. Virkkala, I. Wargowsky, and M. Göckede. 2025. ARGO: ARctic greenhouse Gas Observation metadata version 1. Earth System Science Data 17(6). Copernicus: 2553–2573. doi: 10.5194/essd-17-2553-2025.

Thompson, L. M., R. Shewan, V. Mangal, L. I. Harris, C. H. Cheng, L. P. P. Braga, O. Kolmakova, A. J. Tanentzap, K. H. Knorr, M. A. Kuhn, C. Haugk, A. Azaroff, S. Jonsson, V. L. St. Louis, I. Lehnherr, W. L. Quinton, O. Sonnentag, and D. Olefeldt. 2025. Production of Methylmercury in Peatlands Following Permafrost Thaw Increases along a Trophic Gradient. Environmental Science & Technology, 59(36), 19457–19467. doi:10.1021/acs.est.5c04510

Hashemi, J., A. Räsänen, T. Virtanen, S. Juutinen, G. Grosse, M. Aurela, A. Bartsch, L. Chasmer, S. J. Davidson, M. Korkiakoski, M. A. Kuhn, M. J. Lara, M. Luoto, P. Niittynen, D. Olefeldt, O. Sonnentag, A.-M. Virkkala, C. Voigt, and C. C. Treat. 2025. Coarse land cover datasets bias Arctic-Boreal wetland methane budgets. Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1), 903.
doi:10.1038/s43247-025-02963-1

Kuhn, M., D. Olefeldt, K. A. Arndt, D. Bastviken, L. Bruhwiler, P. Crill, T. Delsontro, E. Fluet-Chouinard, G. Grosse, M. Hovemyr, G. Hugelius, S. MacIntyre, A. Malhotra, A. D. McGuire, Y. Oh, B. Poulter, C. C. Treat, M. R. Turetsky, R. K. Varner, K. M. Walter Anthony, J. D. Watts, and Z. Zhang. 2025. Current and future methane emissions from boreal-Arctic wetlands and lakes. Nature Climate Change, 15(9), 986–991.
doi: 10.1038/s41558-025-02413-y

Vonk, J. E., L. Bröder, S. E. Tank, M. Fritz, H. Lantuit, M. A. Kuhn, A. Bartsch, J. Martens, M. Babin, G. Hugelius, S. Zolkos, A. M. Irrgang, M. O’Regan, B. Juhls, J. Terhaar, M. Göckede, N. J. Speetjens, L. S. Basso, M. Manizza, Ö. Gustafsson, and A. Suslova. 2025. The land–ocean Arctic carbon cycle. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 6(2). Springer Nature: 86–105. doi: 10.1038/s43017-024-00627-w.

2024

Hugelius, G., P. K. Patra, E. A. G. Schuur, A. ‐M Virkkala, J. G. Canadell, A. Chatterjee, T. Kleinen, J. Chang, P. I. Palmer, M. E. Marushchak, B. Zheng, I. T. Luijkx, M. R. Turetsky, S. Potter, D. Olefeldt, R. L. Thompson, P. Ciais, E. Burke, R. Lauerwald, W. J. Riley, E. López‐Blanco, Y. Niwa, L. Feng, C. Voigt, M. W. Jones, J. Liu, T. L. Smallman, B. M. Rogers, S. M. Natali, J. Watts, W. Peters, A. Bastos, A. Tsuruta, C. Biasi, T. Aalto, J. Ramage, M. Kuhn, F. Chevallier, C. Treat, B. Poulter, Q. Zhu, M. Saunois, and N. Chandra. 2024. Permafrost Region Greenhouse Gas Budgets Suggest a Weak CO2 Sink and CH4 and N2O Sources, But Magnitudes Differ Between Top‐Down and Bottom‐Up Methods. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 38(10). Amer Geophysical Union. doi: 10.1029/2023gb007969.

Kuhn, M. A., M. W. Palace, M. P. Waldrop, M. R. Turetsky, C. K. Mccalley, C. Herrick, V. I. Rich, P. M. Crill, M. Aurela, D. Olefeldt, E. S. Kane, J. H. Shorter, R. K. Varner, J. Delgreco, O. Sonnentag, F. B. Sullivan, L. J. Lamit, L. Heffernan, T. Larmola, S. B. Hodgkins, C. P. Jones, S. Juutinen, J. Deng, C. R. Perryman, E. Lilleskov, S. A. Burke, C. Schulze, and J. P. Chanton. 2024. Controls on Stable Methane Isotope Values in Northern Peatlands and Potential Shifts in Values Under Permafrost Thaw Scenarios. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 129(7). Amer Geophysical Union. doi: 10.1029/2023jg007837.

Heffernan, L., C. Estop-Aragonés, M. A. Kuhn, K. Holger-Knorr, and D. Olefeldt. 2024. Changing climatic controls on the greenhouse gas balance of thermokarst bogs during succession after permafrost thaw. Global change biology 30(7). Wiley. doi: 10.1111/gcb.17388.

Ramage, J., E. López‐Blanco, G. Hugelius, C. Biasi, B. Poulter, C. Voigt, M. R. Turetsky, M. Kuhn, J. G. Canadell, M. E. Marushchak, P. Ciais, A. Bastos, S. Potter, J. Watts, E. A. G. Schuur, A. Virkkala, B. M. Rogers, D. Olefeldt, S. M. Natali, and C. Treat. 2024. The Net GHG Balance and Budget of the Permafrost Region (2000–2020) From Ecosystem Flux Upscaling. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 38(4). Amer Geophysical Union. doi: 10.1029/2023gb007953.

2023

Thompson, L. M., M. A. Kuhn, J. C. Winder, L. P. P. Braga, R. H. S. Hutchins, A. J. Tanentzap, V. L. St. Louis, and D. Olefeldt. 2023. Controls on methylmercury concentrations in lakes and streams of peatland-rich catchments along a 1700 km permafrost gradient. Limnology and Oceanography, 68(3), 583–597. doi: 10.1002/lno.12296

Winder, J. C., L. P. P. Braga, M. A. Kuhn, L. M. Thompson, D. Olefeldt, and A. J. Tanentzap. 2023. Climate warming has direct and indirect effects on microbes associated with carbon cycling in northern lakes. Global Change Biology, 29(11), 3039–3053. doi: 10.1111/gcb.16655

Ray, N. E., M. A. Holgerson, M. R. Andersen, J. Bikše, L. E. Bortolotti, M. Futter, I. Kokorīte, A. Law, C. McDonald, J. P. Mesman, M. Peacock, D. C. Richardson, J. Arsenault, S. Bansal, K. Cawley, M. Kuhn, A. R. Shahabinia, and F. Smufer. 2023. Spatial and temporal variability in summertime dissolved carbon dioxide and methane in temperate ponds and shallow lakes. Limnology and Oceanography, 68(7), 1530–1545. doi: 10.1002/lno.12362

Schulze, C., O. Sonnentag, C. Voigt, L. Thompson, L. Van Delden, L. Heffernan, G. Hernandez-Ramirez, M. Kuhn, S. Lin, and D. Olefeldt. 2023. Nitrous Oxide Fluxes in Permafrost Peatlands Remain Negligible After Wildfire and Thermokarst Disturbance. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 128(4). doi: 10.1029/2022JG007322

2022

Kuhn, M. A., M. Schmidt, L. Heffernan, J. Stührenberg, K. Knorr, C. Estop-Aragonés, T. Broder, R. Gonzalez Moguel, P. M. J. Douglas, and D. Olefeldt. 2022. High ebullitive, millennial-aged greenhouse gas emissions from thermokarst expansion of peatland lakes in boreal western Canada. Limnology and Oceanography, 68(2), 498–513. doi: 10.1002/lno.12288

Thompson, L., Kuhn, M.A., Braga, L., Tanentzap, A, *Winder, J., Olefeldt, D. 2022. Methylmercury concentrations and hgcA gene patterns in streams and ponds along a permafrost gradient. Limnology and Oceanography. doi: 10.1002/lno.12296

2021

Olefeldt, D., M. Hovemyr, M. A. Kuhn, D. Bastviken, T. J. Bohn, J. Connolly, P. Crill, E. S. Euskirchen, S. A. Finkelstein, H. Genet, G. Grosse, L. I. Harris, L. Heffernan, M. Helbig, G. Hugelius, R. Hutchins, S. Juutinen, M. J. Lara, A. Malhotra, K. Manies, A. D. McGuire, S. M. Natali, J. A. O’Donnell, F.-J. W. Parmentier, A. Räsänen, C. Schädel, O. Sonnentag, M. Strack, S. E. Tank, C. Treat, R. K. Varner, T. Virtanen, R. K. Warren, and J. D. Watts. 2021. The Boreal–Arctic Wetland and Lake Dataset (BAWLD). Earth System Science Data, 13(11), 5127–5149. doi: 10.5194/essd-13-5127-2021

Kuhn, M. A., R. K. Varner, D. Bastviken, P. Crill, S. MacIntyre, M. Turetsky, K. Walter Anthony, A. D. McGuire, and D. Olefeldt. 2021. BAWLD-CH4: A Comprehensive Dataset of Methane Fluxes from Boreal and Arctic Ecosystems. Earth System Science Data, 13(11), 5151–5189. doi: 10.5194/essd-13-5151-2021

Kuhn, M. A., R. K. Varner, D. Bastviken, P. Crill, S. MacIntyre, M. Turetsky, K. Walter Anthony, A. D. McGuire, and D. Olefeldt. 2021. BAWLD-CH4: A Comprehensive Dataset of Methane Fluxes from Boreal and Arctic Ecosystems. (discussion paper). doi: 10.5194/essd-2021-141

Kuhn, M. A., L. M. Thompson, J. C. Winder, L. P. P. Braga, A. J. Tanentzap, D. Bastviken, and D. Olefeldt. 2021. Opposing Effects of Climate and Permafrost Thaw on CH4 and CO2 Emissions From Northern Lakes. AGU Advances, 2(4). doi:
10.1029/2021AV000515

Tanentzap, A. J., K. Burd, M. Kuhn, C. Estop‐Aragonés, S. E. Tank, and D. Olefeldt. 2021. Aged soils contribute little to contemporary carbon cycling downstream of thawing permafrost peatlands. Global Change Biology 27(20). Wiley: 5368–5382. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15756.