Chris HettwerGraduate Student

Email:

hettwer@uchicago.edu

Office:

Hinds 513

Biography

Hailing from New Jersey, I developed an interest in greenhouse gases at an early age. I graduated from the College of William & Mary in 2021 with a double major in Chemistry and Environmental Science. I conducted undergraduate research on atmospheric aerosols and their kinetic properties under photodissociation. 

I then worked for a small agrochemical company called Aquatrols for two years as a research technician. In this role my work focused on measuring the impact of soil amendments on plant growth regulator production. 

Eager to hone my research skills and leverage my experiences with gases and plants, I attended the University of Maine in pursuit of my Master of Science in Forest Ecosystem Science. Funded by a NSF project aimed at understanding methane dynamics at Howland Research Forest of central Maine, my thesis was on methane flux from living and dead tree stems. 

I am now a PhD student at the University of Chicago where I will continue studying methane fluxes and their microbiological underpinnings.

Selected Publications

Hettwer, C., Savage, K., Gewirtzman, J., Ruzol, R., Wason, J., Cadillo-Quiroz, H., Fraver, S. Methane flux from living tree stems in a northern conifer forest. Biogeochemistry 168, 66 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-025-01257-0

Hettwer, C., Savage, K., Ouimette, A., Wason, J., Ruzol, R., and Fraver, S.: CO2 and CH4 fluxes from standing dead trees in a northern conifer forest, EGUsphere [preprint] (2025), https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3480