Specific theories developed for individual processes or contexts are important and useful, but finding general principles that apply across vast amounts of phenomena is a central goal in science. In the broadest terms, this is Chris’ goal, to find theories and principles that apply to a wide range of biological scales and hierarchies.


For example, Chris’ work on trees has applied a theory of plant architecture to derive individual physiology, interactions with the environment, and the unique whole forest structure of specific regions. This is theory that goes from individual branches to planetary-scale energy balance, but does so in a way that uses a small set of common principles and assumptions.

Research Projects