Dynamic Deserts: Resource Uncertainty in Arid Environments
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Invited Speakers
Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Michael Rosenzweig
Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
Dr. Rosenzweig has spent his career exploring and explaining patterns of species diversity from local to regional scales. By examining species-area relationships and other determinants of species diversity, Dr. Rosenzweig has synthesized information and developed mathematical theories that are the basis of much modern ecological research regarding diversity patterns. He is also the author of “Win-Win Ecology: How Earth’s Species Can Survive in the Midst of Human Enterprise”, a thought-provoking look at how we can maintain species diversity in human dominated environments. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
School of Life Sciences Seminar Speaker:
Dr. Larry Venable
Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
Larry Venable and students in his lab study plant population and community dynamics and plant reproductive ecology. We currently focus on the population dynamics of desert winter annual plants. Larry’s theoretical work on plant reproductive ecology deals with aspects of dormancy, dispersal, sex allocation, pollen evolution, seed size, hierarchical packaging of reproduction, and the evolution of inflorescence design. He is investigating the evolution of leaves and sexual systems in a speciose Mexican tree genus, and gender evolution in a Sonoran Desert shrub. He also works on seed morphometrics and adaptive geographic differentiation in a seed heteromorphic Mexican annual plant. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Banquet Speaker and PhotoGraphy Workshop Co-coordinator:
Dr. Mark Klett
Regent’s Professor of Art (Photography)
Arizona State University
Trained as a geologist, Mark Klett established his artistic perspective on the western American landscape as the chief photographer for the Rephotographic Survey Project (1977-1979), which rephotographed scenes visited by the first photographic surveys of the West in the 1860s and 1870s. Klett’s landscape photographs have become icons of today’s Southwest, celebrating its raw beauty while tackling such volatile issues as land and water use. The Old West battle between the white hats and black hats has segued into developer versus preservationist. He has used his large-format camera and tripod to document the interaction of man and desert. Email | Website
Dr. Rimjhim Aggarwal
Assistant Professor, School of Sustainability
Arizona State University
Dr. Aggarwal’s research explores global dimensions of sustainability such as the links between globalization, local ecosystems, and poverty in less-developed countries. She has conducted extensive field work on groundwater-irrigation institutions in India; her recent research examines the emerging tradeoffs between water availability and the growing demands of agriculture in dry-land regions of the world. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. J. Marty Anderies
Assistant Professor, School of Human Evolution and Social Change
Arizona State University
My current research interests focus on robust management and robust institutional design for coupled social-ecological systems. I study a range of archaeological, historical, and present-day examples of social-ecological systems using formal mathematical modeling and analysis to develop an understanding of ecological, behavioral, social, and institutional factors that generate vulnerability and/or enhance resilience and robustness in social-ecological systems. Other areas of interest include economic growth, demographics, and the environment and mathematical modeling in community ecology. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Jayne Belnap
Research Ecologist
U.S. Geological Survey, Canyonlands UT
Over the past 20 years, Dr. Belnap has published 175 peer-reviewed articles and books on biological soil crusts and dryland ecology that include a BLM technical reference (co-authored with 3 other BLM scientists) and the only comprehensive book available on the topic. She is recognized by scientists around the globe as one of world's authorities on soil crusts. Dr. Belnap has been invited by many governments to train their scientists in soil crust ecology, including those of South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mongolia, China, Siberia, Australia, and Iceland. She travels extensively throughout the U. S., training BLM, NPS, USFS, BIA, DoD, and DOE staff and managers on management of soil crusts. She is past Chair of the Soil Ecology chapter of Ecological Society of America, past President-Elect of the Soil Ecology Society, and past member of the Governing Board of Ecological Society of America. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Julio Betancourt
Research Ecologist
U.S. Geological Survey, Tucson AZ
The main objective of Dr. Betancourt’s research is to study ecosystem and watershed responses to climate variability on different temporal and spatial scales. More often than not, these responses can only be studied and understood in retrospect and at regional to subcontinental scales. Along with close colleagues and students, Dr. Betancourt has contributed to networks of rodent midden and tree-ring data in the Americas. They have always made a point of applying this historical knowledge not only to fundamental questions of science, but also to contemporary issues facing management of water and other resources. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Scott Collins
Professor, Dept. of Biology
University of New Mexico
Director, Sevilleta LTER
Dr. Collins is a community ecologist broadly interested in vegetation dynamics from the patch to landscape scale. As Director of the Sevilleta LTER, Dr. Collins leads a variety of studies on the roles of plant-soil feedbacks, climatic variation, and disturbance in driving long-term dynamics of desert grasslands and shifts from range to shrublands. Email | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Douglas B. Craig
Archaeologist, Principal Investigator
Northland Research, Inc.
Dr. Craig’s research interests cover a range of topics related to the prehistory of the U.S./Mexico borderlands region. His published studies have focused on the political ecology of early farming communities, in particular, the relationship between environmental variation, agricultural productivity, and the rise of social inequality. Dr. Craig has also been active in efforts to model prehistoric population dynamics across the region. He and his colleagues are currently conducting investigations at several early farming settlements along the San Pedro and Santa Cruz rivers. Email | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Dale DeNardo
Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences
Arizona State University
Dr. DeNardo is interested in how animals use their environment to meet physiological needs. Of particular interests are the trade-offs associated with balancing multiple physiological traits such as thermoregulation, water balance, energy balance, and reproduction. Dr. DeNardo integrates laboratory studies with field studies to provide a balance of controlled experimentation and ecological relevance. By doing such, critical components of the environment can be identified and regulatory mechanisms can be unveiled. The majority of studies involve squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) of the Sonoran Desert. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. David Eldridge
Senior Research Scientist, Department of Land and Water Conservation
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Dr. Eldridge’s research covers the broad areas of rangeland ecology, specifically the effects of animals (ecosystem engineers) on soil processes, ecology of desert soil crusts, and monitoring of soil and rangeland health. The focus of his research is on the semi-arid woodlands of eastern Australia; he also maintains long-term research interests in west-central Idaho and the south-western Chihuahuan desert in the western United States. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. George Frisvold
Professor and Extension Specialist
The University of Arizona
Dr. Frisvold’s joined the faculty at The University of Arizona in 1997. He has been a visiting scholar at the National Institute of Rural Development in Hyderabad, India, a lecturer at The Johns Hopkins University, and Chief of the Resource and Environmental Policy Branch of USDA's Economic Research Service. His research interests include domestic and international environmental policy, as well as the causes and consequences of technological change in agriculture. In 1995-96, Dr. Frisvold served on the Senior staff of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers with responsibility for agricultural, natural resource, and international trade issues. Currently, he serves as Co-Editor of the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Nancy Grimm
Professor, School of Life Sciences
Arizona State University
Co-Director, CAP LTER
Dr. Grimm's research concerns the structure and function of ecosystems in arid lands. Her current research focus is on the cycling and retention of the element nitrogen, considered in the context of patch dynamics and landscape heterogeneity. Current projects in Dr. Grimm's research group are 1) plant-microbe-soil interactions and nitrogen transformations in a riparian ecosystem (San Pedro River, AZ; SAHRA project); 2) nitrate retention (using stable isotope experiments) in urban, agricultural, and unmodified streams of the American Southwest (LINX-2 project); 3) biogeochemistry and hot spots of N transformation in urban landscapes; and 4) effects of urban atmospheric deposition on biogeochemical cycling in deserts (Urban BGC project). Dr. Grimm is Co-Director of the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research Project (CAP LTER), an ecological study of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. J. Nathaniel Holland
Assistant Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Rice University
Research in the Holland laboratory is centered around the ecology and evolution of interspecific interactions. We are particularly interested in the influences of mutualism on patterns and processes across populations, communities, and ecosystems. Our aim is to develop a mechanistic understanding of these patterns and processes, ranging from the ecological and evolutionary stability of pairwise mutualisms to the structure and dynamics of multi-species mutualistic networks. We are interested in a wide range of mutualisms, but our studies most commonly involve plant-insect interactions, particularly in the Sonoran Desert. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Burt Kotler
Professor, Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology
Blaustein Institute for Desert Research
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Dr. Kotler’s research ranges from community and evolutionary ecology to animal behavior. He studies the consequences of natural selection at the community level on foraging behavior and coexistence mechanisms of granivorous desert birds and mammals, desert rodents and their predators, and habitat quality and interactions among African herbivores. He applies foraging theory, predator-prey foraging games, and behavioral indicators to conservation issues, particularly in arid environments. Dr. Kotler is subject editor for Ecology, Ecological Monographs and Annales Zoologici and editor-in-chief for Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution. He is a highly cited author on ISI Web of Science. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Claudio Latorre
Assistant Professor, Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Dr. Latorre’s area of research lies within the realms of Paleoecology/ Paleoclimatology and Plant Biogeography as applied to arid regions. His current research deals with the modern flora and Quaternary paleoflora of the Atacama Desert and the Pacific slope of the Andes of northern Chile. Over the last few years, Dr. Latorre and his collaborators and have been using midden records from the Atacama to address key questions regarding this desert’s hydrological cycle over the last 40,000-50,000 years. As our knowledge on the distribution and diversity of past desert plant communities in northern Chile increases, Dr. Latorre and colleagues seek to understand the implications for biogeography and eventually, conservation of modern desert communities, many of which have been highly dynamic through time. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Fernando Maestre
Research Fellow, Area of Biodiversity and Conservation
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
I am interested on a wide variety of topics that vary from the impacts of ongoing global changes on plant-plant interactions to the role of biological soil crusts in the functioning of semi-arid ecosystems. My major research areas, current and past, include: Interactive effects of global change drivers and soil heterogeneity on the performance of plant individuals, populations and assemblages • Invasive species • Plant-plant interactions in arid and semi-arid ecosystems • Plant-biological soil crusts interactions in arid and semi-arid ecosystems • Role of biological soil crusts in the functioning of semi-arid ecosystems • Spatial heterogeneity of soil properties and plant performance at different scales • Relationships between ecosystem structure/composition and functioning in semi-arid ecosystems • Spatial analysis of ecological data • Environmental conservation and industrial development in the town of Sax (Spain) Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Maria Miriti
Assistant Professor, Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology
Ohio State University
Dr. Miriti’s research incorporates theoretical, experimental and demographic methods to address factors that regulate plant populations and communities. Because plants are immobile and habitats are heterogeneous, the individual responses of plants to patchy resource distribution will influence the spatial distribution of community members. The local environment of individuals differs from the average environment of the population and will influence population dynamics. An important question is: How do individualistic responses of plants affect population, community, and ecosystem processes? Dr. Miriti addresses this question by merging information on the spatial distribution of resources and the differential responses of neighboring individuals to the spatial characteristics of their environment. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Gary Nabhan
Research Social Scientist
Southwest Center of the University of Arizona
Founder/Facilitator
Renewing America’s Food Traditions initiative, Slow Food USA, Brooklyn
Gary Paul Nabhan, PhD., is an Arab-American writer, lecturer, food and farming advocate, rural lifeways folklorist, and conservationist whose work has long been rooted in the U.S./Mexico borderlands region he affectionately calls “the stinkin’ hot desert.” He recently accepted a tenured professorship as a Research Social Scientist based at the Southwest Center of the University of Arizona--- his alma mater. He teaches in Geography, as well as interacts with faculty and graduate students engaged in creative writing and reconciliation ecology research. He continues advising or consulting with many non-profits, including the Renewing America’s Food Traditions collaborative. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
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Dr. Charles Perrings
Professor, School of Life Sciences
Arizona State University
Dr. Perrings directs (with Ann Kinzig) the ecoSERVICES group at ASU and co-chairs (with Shahid Naeem) the ecoSERVICES core project of Diversitas, the international program of biodiversity science. The Group contributes to a number of international research projects on issues relating to biodiversity change, conservation and development, and supports training in biodiversity and ecosystem services both within ASU and internationally. Dr. Perrings is Past President of theInternational Society for Ecological Economics and has advised various governmental, intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations as well as research funding agencies. In Britain he served on, inter alia, the Royal Society’s Environment Committee, the WHAT Commission on Crop Genetic Diversity in Agriculture and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (Natural Environment Research Council Research Institutes) Program Review Board.
Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. James Reynolds
Professor, Department of Biology and Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Duke University
My current interests center on the response of plants and ecosystems to disturbance, e.g., climate change and human land use. I am interested in both theoretical and empirical approaches, and use mathematical and computer modeling extensively in my research. My current research deals with (1) desertification: As a co-PI of the NSF-supported Center for the Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change (Carnegie Mellon University), I am leading an international research team that is developing an integrated assessment model for rangeland degradation in arid and semiarid regions of the globe; and (2) whole plant growth modeling: these plant growth models are incorporated into ecosystem models to explore questions related to climate change, e.g., how elevated CO2 levels will affect carbon sequestration and nitrogen cycling in arid ecosystems. Currently, I am collaborating with researchers at the Nevada Desert FACE [Free-Air-Carbon dioxide-Enrichment] Facility in Las Vegas. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Stan Smith
Professor, School of Life Sciences
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Director, Nevada Desert Research Center
Dr. Smith is a plant physiological ecologist who has spent the past 25 years studying how desert plants adapt to the stressful environments that they occupy. Over the past 5 years, his lab group has concentrated on how global change factors, particularly elevated atmospheric CO2, affect the structure and function of desert ecosystems. Their research spans a variety of scales, from membrane-level physiology to ecosystem processes. Most of our current research occurs at the Nevada Desert FACE Facility, a whole-ecosystem CO2 manipulation experiment supported by the Department of Energy. They are also addressing how land use, nitrogen deposition, and altered precipitation patterns may affect desert ecosystems. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Katherine A. Spielmann
Associate Director, School of Sustainability
Professor, School of Human Evolution and Social Change
Arizona State University
Katherine A. Spielmann’s research interests focus on prehistoric economies in smaller-scale societies, primarily in North America. She is especially interested in the ways in which economic intensification is fueled by increasing demands for food and goods in ritual, political and social contexts. One of her primary contributions to the discipline has been to demonstrate the variety of conditions under which small-scale societies with relatively non-complex political systems develop complex, specialized economies. She is also interested in the relationship between diet and health under different subsistence regimes. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Glenn Walsberg
Professor, School of Life Sciences
Arizona State University
Research in the Walsberg laboratory focuses on the environmental physiology and biophysical ecology of birds and mammals. Major topics of research include the following: (1) The ecological physiology of birds and mammals occupying extreme environments, particularly desert regions, (2) Animal energetics, including both the physiology of energy metabolism and heat transfer as well as the use of energy as a vital resource by organisms, (3) The biophysics and physiological consequences of solar heat gain by animals, and (4)The thermoregulatory and energetic significance for animals of habitat and microhabitat selection. In each of these areas, a primary goal is to establish the role of relevant physiological mechanisms in determining the success of animals in nature. Consequently, our research integrates laboratory and field approaches, and subsumes behavioral, biophysical, and physiological techniques. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)
Dr. Blair Wolf
Associate Professor, Dept. of Biology
University of New Mexico
Dr. Wolf is an ecophysiologist studying the flow of energy and resources through desert foodwebs. He employs cutting-edge isotopic and ultrasound techniques along with traditional ecological methods to assess animal energetics, water balance and thermoregulation, avian biology, trophic interactions, and reproductive effort in small mammals. He works primarily across the hot deserts of the American Southwest. Email | Website | Abstract (PDF)