Rate My Professor Oswald Schmitz

Schmitz's research investigates the dynamics and structure of terrestrial food webs, with a focus on plant-herbivore interactions shaped by carnivores and soil-nutrient levels, biodiversity-ecosystem function linkages, and impacts of disturbances like climate change on species interactions and services. He develops mathematical theories tested via field experiments in ecosystems from Canadian boreal forests to New England old fields. His authored books include The New Ecology: Rethinking a Science for the Anthropocene (Princeton University Press, 2016), Resolving Ecosystem Complexity (Princeton University Press, 2010), and Ecology and Ecosystem Conservation (Island Press, 2007). As editor, he produced Trait-Mediated Indirect Interactions: Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 2012). Influential publications feature Animals and the zoogeochemistry of the carbon cycle (Science, 2018), Trophic cascade alters ecosystem carbon exchange (PNAS, 2013), and Fearful effects on ecological competitors (Nature, 2019). Schmitz has served as Editor of Ecology Letters (2004-2008), Associate Editor for journals including The American Naturalist (2009-2013) and Ecology and Evolution (2014-present), and on committees such as the Board of Directors of Ocean Conservancy (2017-present).