OVERVIEW

I am a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University working with Steve Pacala and his lab to understand the mechanisms that structure plant communities, and, ultimately, the effects of those structures on ecosystems and the biosphere. I work with one foot seemingly secure on the solid rock of overly-idealized, but clearly-illuminated theoretical ecology and the other foot apparently sinking in the muck of annoyingly-idiosyncratic, but heartwarmingly-real empirical ecology. With the soul of a community ecologist, I draw on the tools and knowledge of ecophysiology, theoretical ecology, ecosystem ecology, and evolutionary game theory to form a uniquely mechanistic approach for understanding why the world is the way it is... and how it will change in the coming decades and centuries.

I received my PhD from the University of Minnesota. David Tilman advised me. He helped me learn to focus on the big picture (without stumbling over the important details!) and to couple theory and empiricism for the betterment of both. I paid for my dissertation in blood donated via mosquitoes to the well-studied ecosystem of Cedar Creek LTER site in Minnesota. Indeed, molecules of nitrogen that were once mine are cycling there as you read this.

PUBLICATIONS

Franklin, O, J Johansson, RC Dewar, U Dieckmann, RE McMurtrie,

Å Brännström, and R Dybzinski. In Press. Modeling carbon allocation in trees: a search for principles. Tree Physiology.

Dybzinski, R, C Farrior, A Wolf, P B Reich, and S W Pacala. 2011. Evolutionarily stable strategy carbon allocation to foliage, wood, and fine roots in trees competing for light and nitrogen: an analytically-tractable, individual-based model and quantitative comparisons to data. The American Naturalist 177: 153-166. (Plus Appendices) (plus coverage in The New York Times)

Dybzinski, R, and D Tilman. 2009. Competition and coexistence in plant communities. In: S Levin (ed) The Princeton Guide to Ecology, Princeton University Press

Dybzinski, R, J Fargione, D Zak, D Fornara, and D Tilman. 2008. Soil fertility increases with plant species diversity in a long-term biodiversity experiment. Oecologia 158: 85-93.

Dybzinski, R, and D Tilman. 2007. Resource use patterns predict the long-term outcome of plant competition for nutrients and light. The American Naturalist 170: 305-318.

Fargione, J, D Tilman, R Dybzinski, J Hille Ris Lambers, C Clark, S Harpole, J Knops, PB Reich, and M Loreau. 2007. From selection to complementarity: Shifts in the causes of biodiversity-productivity relationships in a long-term biodiversity experiment. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274: 871-876.

Tilman, D, J Hille Ris Lambers, S Harpole, R Dybzinski, J Fargione, C Clark, and C Lehman. 2004. Does metabolic theory apply to community ecology? It’s a matter of scale. Ecology 85 (7): 1797-1799.

Dabrowski, B, L Gladczuk, A Wisniewski, Z Bukowski, R Dybzinski, A Szewczyk, M Gutowska, S Kolesnik, CW Kimball, and H Szymczak. 2000. Magnetostriction study of structural and magnetic transitions in La1–xSrxMnO3 (0.1<x<0.2). Jour. App. Phys. 87(6):3011-3017.

Klamut, PW, B Dabrowski, R Dybzinski, Z Bukowski, A Shengelaya, R Khasanov, S Dottinger, and H Keller. 2000. Muon-spin rotation study of the magnetic correlations in La2xCa1+xCu2O6+d superconductors. J. Appl. Phys. 87:5558-5560.

Dabrowski, B, R Dybzinski, Z Bukowski, O Chmaissem, JD Jorgensen. 1999. Oxygen content and structures of La1-xCaxMnO3+d as a function of synthesis conditions. Jour. Sol. St. Chem. 146:448-457.

Dabrowski, B, PW Klamut, Z Bukowski, R Dybzinski and JE Siewenie. 1999. Effective oxygen content and properties of La0.74Ca0.26MnO(3+d). J. Sol. State Chem. 144:461-466.

Dabrowski, B, X Xiong, Z Bukowski, R Dybzinski, PW Klamut, JE Siewenie, O Chmaissem, J Shaffer, CW Kimball, J Jorgensen, and S Short. 1999. Structure-properties phase diagram for La1-xSrxMnO3 (0.1-x-0.2). Phys. Rev. B 60:7006-7017.

Xiong, X, B Dabrowski, O Chmaissem, Z Bukowski, S Kolesnik, R Dybzinski, CW Kimball, and JD Jorgensen. 1999. Correlation between coherent Jahn-Teller distortion and magnetic spin orientation in La1-xSrxMnO3. Phys. Rev. B 60:10186-10192.

Dabrowski, B, K Rogacki, X Xiong, PW Klamut, R Dybzinski, and J Shaffer. 1998. Synthesis and properties of the vacancy-free La1-xBaxMnO3. Phys. Rev. B 58:2716-2723.

Shengelaya, A, CM Aegerter, S Romer, H Keller, PW Klamut, R Dybzinski, B Dabrowski, J Klamut, D Kaczorowski, and IM Savic. 1998. Muon-spin-rotation measurements of the penetration depth in YBa2Cu4O8 family superconductors. Phys. Rev. B 58:3457-3460.