Chris HettwerGraduate Student

Research Focus:

Biogeochemistry, Trace gas cycling, Microbial ecology

Email:

hettwer@uchicago.edu

Office:

Hinds 513

Biography

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

As a PhD student at the University of Chicago, I continue to research methane fluxes with a focus on their microbiological underpinnings. In particular, I am interested in enhanced methanotrophy as a tool for near-term climate change mitigation.

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, Biogeosciences 22, 7819–7828 (2025). https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-7819-2025