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.

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.

2025

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

Vogt, J., M. M. T. A. Pallandt, M. Göckede, A.-M. Virkkala, M. Mauritz, M. Schlutow, K. Arndt, M. Kuhn, L. S. Basso, K. Ivanova, E. A. G. Schuur, G. Celis, I. Wargowsky, and A. Bolek. 2024. ARGO: ARctic greenhouse Gas Observation metadata version 1. copernicus gmbh. doi: 10.5194/essd-2024-456.

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.

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.