 Growing up in southern Ontario, Canada, it was hard for Tim Griffis to ignore the weather – especially when lake-effect snowstorms dumped five inches or more in a single hour. “Weather was always important to my family,” says Griffis, whose parents owned a fruit farm and later a dairy farm near Lake Erie. The farm was a good setting to nurture Tim's interest in climatology.
He stayed close to home when he chose to study climatology at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. Tim earned his B.S. in 1995 and started graduate work that same year at McMaster University in Hamilton. He earned a Ph.D. in biometeorology — the study of the interaction between the atmosphere and the earth's surface. “The land surface is intimately connected with the lower atmosphere,” he points out, and Tim's work is dedicated to studying that relationship.
Consider a forest as an example, and imagine the forest was cut down to be replaced by an agricultural ecosystem such as corn or soybeans. That one change in the land surface could result in many changes that are climatically significant. The new surface would alter the amount of solar radiation that is absorbed or reflected back into the atmosphere and the amount of energy that is available to heat the atmosphere. Even clear-cutting the trees and tilling the field releases carbon dioxide into the air. “Humans have incredible capacity to impact the land surface properties and composition of the atmosphere,” Griffis notes. “We can change an area the size of the upper Midwest in only 100 years.” Understanding consequences is key to making wise decisions.
Tim's current work seeks answers to two essential questions. First, how can we cut or reduce the amount of greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere? Second, what are the key processes and how sensitive are these processes to climate variability and land use?
Today he conducts his research as an assistant professor in the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, which he joined in 2002. One of his current research projects is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The project measures the exchange of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the earth's surface. Tim has three experiment sites at UMORE Park in Rosemount. The three sites are part of a network of 260 similar experiments being conducted by researchers worldwide. Some sites, like Tim's, measure carbon dioxide exchange on farmlands, while others study forests, wetlands, or other landscapes.
 Tim's experiments look specifically at how different management scenarios affect the transfer of greenhouse gases between the land surface and atmosphere. He also uses stable isotope techniques in combination with micrometeorological applications to trace the exchange pathways of these important gases between the land and atmosphere.
Tim took part in two adventurous research studies prior to joining the department. Before starting his Ph.D., he took a three-week field course in the small town of Churchill in northern Manitoba to study the exchange of carbon and other scalars between the atmosphere and arctic lakes. “I really enjoyed the field work and getting hands-on experience,” he says. The course also sparked his interest in the global carbon cycle. Griffis returned to Churchill every summer from 1996 to 1999 to conduct experiments for his Ph.D. project.
Tim recalls spending his summers in the far north, where Hudson Bay remained frozen until the summer months. “Churchill is known as the polar bear capital of the world,” he says. “They migrate off the ice when it melts in late June or July, and they return when it re-freezes in late September or October.” Some years he witnessed dozens of bears making their journeys inland.
Meanwhile, he continued to study the energy and carbon balance of arctic wetlands and woodlands. Tim says he waded through peat bogs three or four feet thick. Scientists are concerned that if the earth warms and permafrost thaws, the bogs could release large amounts of carbon that have been stored for thousands of years back into the atmosphere. “Its interesting that wetlands in a desolate part of Canada can be potentially important to global climate,” he says.
After finishing his Ph.D. in 2000, Tim spent two years as a post-doc at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He ventured again into the Canadian wilderness, this time to demonstrate that boreal forests were still sequestering carbon despite being more than 100 years old.  To reach the experiment site, Griffis and the other researchers flew two to three hours from Vancouver to Saskatchewan. Next, they drove a few hours north to the city of Prince Albert. Finally, they drove four-wheelers deep into the forest, all in the name of science.
It's part of a life of adventure for Griffis, who ran his first marathon in 2005. He and his wife Sandra also take canoeing trips to the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota. Sandra is pursuing a Master's degree in landscape architecture at the U of M. The couple lives in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis with Lucy, their 115-pound Great Dane.
Tim says landing his first research grant was one of his most memorable moments since joining the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate. “As a young faculty member, getting your first grant is a highlight.” He adds, “I love research and the pursuit of trying to figure out how a system works.”
Griffis also advises undergrads who are majors in environmental science, and he praises the program highly. “It has really good courses in fundamental science. They are not watered down,” he explains. He adds that the department has strong international ties, which students should not overlook. “Getting international experience is increasingly important because the issues we're dealing with are international. The atmosphere doesn't have political boundaries. It's important that we work toward common goals.” From the Canadian arctic to the Minnesota prairie, Tim Griffis is working hard toward common goals. |
Return to: The College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences : U of M Home
