Kathleen Lohse

Faculty

Professors | Lecturers | Affiliate | Postdocs | Emeritus

ISU Panorama. Photo by Chuck Peterson.

Professors

Kathleen A. Lohse, Ph.D.

Professor
Ecosystem Ecology, Soil & Watershed Biogeochemistry, Water Quality

Office: Physical Sciences 202C

Research

Lab: Life Sciences 407, 408, & 438A

(208) 282-2149

Biogeochemistry Laboratory (LBL)

I am an ecosystem scientist who works at the interface of ecology, earth system science, and hydrology studying the processes shaping ecosystems and their responses to anthropogenic changes. From this foundation, I tackle the challenges and complexities of sustainability and global change science. My primary research interests include 1) understanding the hydrologic and biogeochemical processes shaping watershed ecosystems, 2) studying how land use and other human-caused changes are altering these processes in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and across these traditional disciplinary boundaries, and 3) integrating social processes and other human dimensions into watershed and ecosystem management.

Teaching

BIOL/GEOL 4490/5590 - Ecosystem Ecology and Global Changes (previously BIOL 4499/5599 & GEOL 4499/5599)
GEOL 4417/5517 - Soils and Critical Zone Processes (previously BIOL 4499/5599 & GEOL 4499/5599)
BIOL 4489 - Field Ecology
BIOL 2209 - General Ecology
BIOL 4482 - Senior seminar
BIOL 6691 - Advanced topics in biogeochemistry (seminar)
GEOL 4451/5551 - Field Methods in Environmental Sciences
BIOL 6606 - Scientific Writing
BIOL 6692 - Science Communication and Informal Education
Independent Problems
Thesis and Dissertation credits

Education

2002, Ph.D. Soil Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA
1993, B.A. Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
1993, B.S. Urban and Regional Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Lohse has been a Professor at Idaho State University since 2019 and shares a joint appointment with the Department of Geosciences. She obtained her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 2002 working with Pamela Matson at Stanford University and Ronald Amundson at UC Berkeley. Her training was in soil science with an emphasis on ecosystem ecology/soil biogeochemistry. Prior to her employment at ISU in 2010, Dr. Lohse worked at the University of Arizona for three and half years as an Assistant Professor.

Selected Publications

Patton, N.R., K.A. Lohse, M.S. Seyfried, S. Godsey, S. Parsons. 2019. Topographic controls on soil organic carbon on soil mantled landscapes. Scientific Reports 9: 6390, doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-42556-5

Patton, N.R., K. A. Lohse, S. E. Godsey, B. T. Crosby and M. Seyfried. 2018. Predicting soil thickness on soil mantled hillslopes. Nature Communications 9: 3329, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05743-y

Schwabedissen, S.G., K.A. Lohse, S.C. Reed, K.A. Aho, T.S. Magnuson. 2017. Nitrogenase Activity by Biological Soil Crusts in Cold Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems. Biogeochemistry 134: 57–76, doi.org/10.1007/s10533-017-0342-9

Gallo, E.L., K.A. Lohse, P.D. Brooks, C. Ferlin, and T. Meixner. 2014. Physical and biological controls on trace gas fluxes in semi-arid urban ephemeral waterways. Biogeochemistry. 121:189–207 doi: 10.1007/s10533-013-9927-0

Lohse, K.A, Sanderman, J., and R. Amundson. 2013. Identifying sources and processes influencing nitrogen export to a small stream using dual isotopes of nitrate.Water Resources Research 49: 1-17, doi: 10.1002/wrcr.20439

Sanderman, J., K.A. Lohse, J. Baldock, and R. Amundson. 2009. Linking soils and streams: Sources and chemistry of dissolved organic carbon in a Mediterranean catchment. Water Resources Research 45, W03418, doi:10.1029/2008WR006977 25 March 2009

Lohse, K.A, P.D. Brooks, J. McIntosh, T. Meixner, and T. Huxman. 2009. Interactions between biogeochemistry and hydrologic systems. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 34: 65–96.