Christopher J. Williams

Assistant Professor of Environmental Science

Named "Most Influential Professor" in the Natural Sciences by the Franklin & Marshall Class of 2008

Education

Ph.D - University of Pennsylvania – 2002

M.S. -  Cornell University - 1997

B.S. -   Cornell University - 1992

Teaching

• ENV/GEO 114 - Earth, Environment and Humanity
• ENV/GEO 344 - Global Change and Natural Resources
• ENV 454 - Environmental Problems, Senior Seminar

Research Interests

The ecology, biomass, and productivity of modern and fossil forests and changes in the distribution of forest vegetation as related to changes in global climate. I am particularly interested in the role that high-latitude forests and peat forming environments play in the global carbon cycle and the use of fossil and sub-fossil evidence to understand how and why forests change with climate.

Professional Associations

Geological Society of America (GSA), International Association of Wood Anatomists (IAWA), International Organisation of Palaeobotany (IOP), Sigma Xi, Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) 

Peer Reviewed Publications

Note: The copyright of these articles is with their respective publishers. By downloading an article, you agree to limit the use of the pdf file to printing of single copies for personal research and study. Student co-authors are underlined.

Williams, C.J., Trostle, K.D., Sunderlin, D. 2010. Fossil Wood in Coal-forming Environments of the Late Paleocene-Early Eocene Chickaloon Formation. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology In press. (doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.02.027).

Williams, C.J., Yavitt, J.B. 2010. Temperate Wetland Methanogenesis: The Importance of Vegetation Type and Root Ethanol Production. Soil Science Society of America Journal 74: 317-325. [pdf]

Williams, C.J., LePage, B.A., Johnson, A.H., Vann, D.R. 2009. Structure, Biomass and Productivity of a Late Paleocene Arctic Forest. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 158: 107-127. [pdf]

Richter, S.L., Johnson, A.H., Dranoff, M.M., LePage, B.A. and C.J. Williams. 2008. Oxygen Isotopes in Fossil Wood Cellulose I.: Isotopic Composition of Eocene- to Holocene-age Cellulose. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 72(12): 2744-2753. [pdf]

Williams, C.J., Mendell, E.K., Murphy, J., Court, W.M., Johnson, A.H., and S.L. Richter. 2008. Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction of a Middle Miocene Forest from the Western Canadian Arctic. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 261(1-2): 160-176. [pdf] 

Williams, C.J. 2007. High-latitude forest structure:  methodological considerations and insights on reconstructing high-latitude fossil forests. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 48(2): 339-357. [pdf]

Yang, H., Huang, Y., Leng, Q, LePage, B.A. and Williams C.J. 2005. Biomolecular preservation of Tertiary Metasequoia fossil Lagerstatten revealed by comparative pyrolysis analysis. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 134: 237-256. [pdf]

Yavitt, J.B., Williams, C.J. and R.K. Wieder. 2005. Soil chemistry versus environmental controls on production of CH₄ and CO₂ in northern peatlands. European Journal of Soil Science, 56: 169-178. [pdf]

Williams C.J. 2005. Ecological Characteristics of Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Pp. 285-304. In B.A. LePage, C.J.  Williams, & H. Yang (eds.).  The Geobiology and Ecology of Metasequoia,. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 444 pp. [pdf]

LePage, B.A., Williams C.J., and H. Yang. 2005. The Geobiology and Ecology of Metasequoia Vol. 22, Topics in Geobiology, Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 444 pp.

Williams C.J., LePage, B.A., Vann D.R., Tange, T., Ikeda, H., Ando, M., Kusakabe, T., Tsuzuki, T. and T. Sweda. 2003. Structure, allometry, and biomass of plantation Metasequoia glyptostroboides in Japan. Forest Ecology and Management, 180(103): 287-301. [pdf]

Vann, D.R., Williams, C.J., and B.A. LePage. 2003. Possible evolution of photosystem parameters and deciduousness in response to paleoclimate seasonality in Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Pp. 431-449. In: Hemsley AR, Poole, I, eds. Evolution of Plant Physiology. Vol 2. Evolutionary physiology from whole plant to ecosystem. London: Academic Press. [pdf]

Williams C.J., Johnson A.H., LePage, B.A., Vann D.R. and T. Sweda. 2003. Reconstruction of Tertiary Metasequoia Forests II.   Structure, Biomass and Productivity of Eocene Floodplain Forests in the Canadian Arctic. Paleobiology, 29(2): 271-292. [pdf]

Williams C.J., Johnson A.H., LePage, B.A., Vann D.R. and K.D. Taylor. 2003. Reconstruction of Tertiary Metasequoia Forests I.   Test of a method for biomass determination based on stem dimensions. Paleobiology, 29(2): 256-270. [pdf]

Williams, C.J. and J.B. Yavitt 2003. Botanical composition of peat and degree of peat decomposition in three temperate peatlands. Ecoscience, 10(1): 85-95. [pdf]

Williams, C.J., Shingara, E.A., and J.B. Yavitt. 2000. Phenol oxidase activity in peatlands in New York State: Response to summer drought and peat type. Wetlands, 20(2): 416-421. [pdf]

Turetsky, M.R., R.K. Wieder, C.J. Williams, and D.H. Vitt. 2000. Organic matter accumulation, peat chemistry and permafrost melting in peatlands of boreal Alberta. Ecoscience, 7(3): 379-392.

Yavitt, J.B., Williams, C.J., and R.K. Wieder. 2000. Controls on Microbial Production of Methane andCarbon Dioxide in Three Sphagnum-Dominated Peatland Ecosystems as Revealed by a Reciprocal Field Peat Transplant Experiment. Geomicrobiology Journal, 17(1): 61-88. [pdf]

Fahey, T.J., Williams, C.J., Rooney-Varga, J.N., Cleveland, C.C., Postek K.M., Smith, S.D. and D.R. Bouldin. 1999. Nitrogen Deposition In and Around an Intensive Agricultural District in Central New York.  Journal of Environmental Quality, 28(5): 1585-1600. [pdf]

Williams, C.J., Yavitt, J.B., Wieder, R.K. and N.L. Cleavitt. 1998. Cupric oxide oxidation products of northern peat and peat forming plants.  Canadian Journal of Botany, 76: 51-62. [pdf]

Wieder, R.K, Yavitt, J.B., Gasda, C.E., Starr, S.T., and C.J. Williams. 1998 Tetrazolium (INT) reduction in acidic Sphagnum-derived peat -- A poor measure of terminal carbon mineralization.  Wetlands, 18(1): 79-83. [pdf]

Yavitt, J.B., Williams, C.J., and R.K. Wieder. 1997. Production of methane and carbon dioxide in peatland ecosystems across North America: Effects of temperature, aeration and organic chemistry of peat. Geomicrobiology Journal, 14: 299-316. [pdf]

Contact Me:

Franklin and Marhsall College

Department of Earth & Environment

415 Harrisburg Ave.

Lancaster, PA 17603 USA

Office: Hackman Hall P-126

Ph: 717-291-3814 

Fax: 717-291-4186