Team

Darby Bergl

Darby’s research focuses on the interactions between the climate system and soil biogeochemistry in terrestrial ecosystems. She is interested in utilizing radiocarbon techniques and modeling approaches to comprehend how C cycling, turnover, and storage will change over time and how this relates to the global C cycle. During her doctoral Read more…
By Stephanie Mayer, ago

Jacob Blais

Jacob’s research focuses on investigating how changes in precipitation mean and variance may independently and/or interactively influence plant phenology and photosynthesis in dryland ecosystems. Jacob is using PhenoCam imagery and eddy covariance data from the Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site for his research. More broadly, Jacob is interested in Read more…
By Alanna Patterson, ago

Lynn Bonomo

Lynn Bonomo is a PhD student advised by Javier A. Ceja-Navarro. She is researching the gut microbiome of coffee berry borer beetles and how altering their gut microbiome affects their ability to ingest caffeine. Her research uses metagenomics and culturing to research how bacteriophages affect caffeine absorption. Full Curriculum Vitae Read more…
By Alanna Patterson, ago

Shelby Byerly

Shelby is interested in characterizing the regeneration niches of pinyon and juniper by determining the functional differences between pinyon and juniper seedlings and how these relate to their ecophysiology and the environmental conditions required for their regeneration. Full Curriculum Vitae    
By Stephanie Mayer, ago

Aneesh Chandel

Aneesh earned his master’s degree in Agricultural Regulations from University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Currently, he is a graduate teaching assistant in Department of Biological Sciences and worked as a PhD student in ECOSS. His research focuses on understanding soil carbon dynamics, synthesis of soil carbon model incorporating Read more…
By Stephanie Mayer, ago

Pete Chuckran

Research Interests Chuckran’s research is largely focused on the gene expression of soil microbial communities during the nitrogen cycle. By isolating the RNA for a soil community, referred to as the metatranscriptome, it is possible to gain an understanding of gene expression at a given time point. Through incubation, greenhouse, Read more…
By Ecoss, ago

Carla A. Crespo

Carla Ayala Crespo works as a master’s student in Dr. Jane Marks Stream Ecology Laboratory at NAU.  Her research interests include leaf litter dynamics in streams, ecological restoration of streams, aquatic biogeochemistry, and fish biology, among other topics. Full Curriculum Vitae
By Stephanie Mayer, ago

Raina Fitzpatrick

Raina’s focus lies at the intersection of ecology in chemistry. She is interested in how microbes mediate elemental cycling and what drives these processes. She hopes to learn how microbes transform a suite of nutrients and other substrates and what this means for global elemental cycles. Full Curriculum Vitae
By Stephanie Mayer, ago

Megan Foley

Megan is interested in microbial population-level dynamics within complex soil communities. She is motivated to research microbial dynamics and eco-physiological traits in terms of how they may relate to carbon cycling. More broadly, she is interested in nearly anything related to microbes, ecosystems, or biogeochemistry.   Full Curriculum Vitae
By Stephanie Mayer, ago