Team

How will grasslands, the largest terrestrial biome on earth, respond to the threats brought by climate change, drought, and disturbance? That’s one of the questions that Rachel Rubin is looking to answer with her PhD studies in the Hungate Lab at Ecoss. In order to determine how climate change will Read more…

As an undergraduate student, Volodymyr Saruta conducted research called “Impact of altered precipitation on grassland productivity in Karadag Nature Reserve”. This research was the beginning of Volodymyr’s career as a scientist and provided fundamental, practical knowledge of statistical analysis and field work. During his masters studies, Volodymyr continued focusing on grassland Read more…

Soldanova is investigating the microbial activation cascades hypothesis with the goal to elucidate possible activation patterns of soil microbial communities and bring insights into microbe-mediated processes taking place in various ecosystems. Soldanova would like her research to bring useful insights into microbial ecology and to contribute to improving current understanding Read more…

Research Interests Taylor is interested in Arctic permafrost carbon dynamics and how high latitude biogeochemistry and ecosystem function changes in response to rapid climate change. To quantify these processes, she uses carbon flux measurements and isotope geochemistry within long-term experimental manipulations in Alaskan discontinuous permafrost to develop a mechanistic understanding Read more…

Jack studies the ecology and conservation of aquatic animals. His work stretches from sky-islands in the Caribbean island of Trinidad W.I.  to headwater streams in Arizona. His current research aim is to understand the ecology of native Arizona fishes to improve the reintroduction and/or repatriation of two endangered fish species, Read more…

Maria graduated from Northern Arizona University with a Master’s in Business Administration in 2009 and BS in Accountancy in 2007. She spent over six years in the property management/investment industry with a focus on corporate accounting and financial reporting for senior living communities. While attending NAU she worked with the Read more…

 Van Gestel’s research focuses on quantitative global change ecology, from biogeochemical cycles to biodiversity to sustainable agriculture. She uses a variety of quantitative approaches, such as data assimilation, meta-analyses and multivariate analyses. She works in a broad array of ecosystems, from deserts to grasslands to forests to the poles, and Read more…

Van Groenigen’s research focuses on how management practices and changes in atmospheric conditions affect the flow of C and N through ecosystems. To do this, he often use meta-analytic techniques to synthesize findings in his field of research. Van Groenigen also studies the role of soil microbes in C and Read more…