Meet the Niwot Team

Principal Investigators

PIs & Co-PIs
Nancy Emery
PI, Co-Lead
Nancy Emery
PI, Co-Lead

Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder

(Pronouns: she/her/hers)

Research in my lab works at the nexus of population biology, community ecology, and evolutionary biology to understand how plants adapt and persist in a constantly changing world. Our current research projects are specifically focused on the evolution of dispersal, habitat specialization, and phenotypic plasticity in plants that occupy variable environments.

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PI, Co-Lead
Katharine Suding
Co-PI, Co-Lead
Katharine Suding
Co-PI, Co-Lead

Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder

I work at the interface of ecosystem, landscape and population biology. My goal is to apply cutting-edge “usable” science to the challenges of restoration, species invasion, and environmental change. My lab works with a variety of conservation groups, government agencies and land managers.

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Co-PI, Co-Lead
Eve-Lyn Hinckley
Co-PI
Eve-Lyn Hinckley
Co-PI

Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder

I am an interdisciplinary environmental scientist with a background in biogeochemistry and hydrology. I seek to understand how the flows of carbon, nutrients, and water are changed by human activities and how those changes may affect human welfare.

Learn more here

Co-PI
Scott Taylor
Co-PI
Scott Taylor
Co-PI

Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder

Director, Mountain Research Station

(Pronouns: he/him/his)

Research in my group is focused on using natural hybrid zones and recent radiations to understand the genetic bases of traits involved in reproductive isolation, population divergence, and speciation, and the impacts of anthropogenic change, including climate change, on species distributions, interactions, and evolution. We're fascinated by natural history and the intersections between art and science, and we're committed to doing our part to increase diversity and make our community inclusive and supportive.

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Co-PI
Will Wieder
Co-PI
Will Wieder
Co-PI

Research Scientist, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado at Boulder

Project Scientist, Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research

(Pronouns: he/him/his)

I am interested in researching terrestrial ecosystems and their interactions with and feedbacks to climate change. I'm especially interested in integrating ecological insights into Earth system models and working across disciplines related to biogeochemistry, ecology, hydrology, and atmospheric sciences.

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Co-PI

Staff

Sarah Elmendorf, PhD
Information Manager

(Pronouns: she/her/hers)

Alexa Esler
Program Coordinator

(Pronouns: she/her/hers)

Miles Moore
Staff Data Scientist

Jennifer Morse
Lead Climate, Water, and Snow


 

Alexandra Rose, PhD
Outreach and Education

(Pronouns: she/her/hers)

Jane G. Smith, PhD
Lead Vegetation

(Pronouns: she/her/hers)

Austin Willbern
Field Technician

(Pronouns: he/him/his)

George Wills
Summer Technician

 

Samuel Yevak
Lead Limnology

(Pronouns: he/him/his)

 

Senior investigators

Kurt Anderson: Aquatic Community Ecology, Ponds
Department of Evolution, Ecology & Organismal Biology
University of California - Riverside

Holly Barnard: Ecophysiology
Department of Geography
University of Colorado at Boulder

William Bowman: Evolutionary Ecology
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

(Pronouns: he/him/his)

T. Nelson Caine: Geomorphology, Hydrology
Emeritus, Department of Geography
University of Colorado at Boulder

Daniela Cusack: Forest Biogeochemistry
Department of Ecosystem Science & Sustainability
Colorado State University

Laura Dee: Ecosystem Services
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Emily Farrer: Plant-Microbial Interactions
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Tulane University

(Pronouns: she/her/hers)

Noah Fierer: Soil Microbial Ecology
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Sarah Hart: Subalpine Forests
Department of Forest & Rangeland Stewardship
Colorado State University

Pieter Johnson: Aquatic Community Ecology, Alpine Lakes
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

John Knowles: Ecohydrology, Carbon Sequestration
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences
Chico State University

(Pronouns: he/him/his)

Ben Livneh: Watershed, Hydrologic Modeling
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Colorado at Boulder

Noah Molotch: Climate and Hydrology, Snow
Department of Geography
University of Colorado at Boulder

Meagan Oldfather: Plant Demography
USGS Biologist
North Central Climate Adaptation Center

Isabella Olesky: Limnology and Biogeochemistry
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Dan Preston: Aquatic Community Ecology, Streams
Department of Fish, Wildlife & Conservation Biology
Colorado State University

Chris Ray: Animal Ecology, Pikas
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Julian Resasco: Plant-Pollinator Interactions
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Steve Schmidt: Microbial Ecology
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Warren Sconiers: Plant-Insect Interactions
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Timothy Seastedt: Soil Ecology
Emeritus, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

(Pronouns: he/him/his)

Lauren Shoemaker: Theoretical Ecology
Department of Botany
University of Wyoming

Marko Spasojevic: Functional Trait Ecology
Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology
University of California - Riverside

(Pronouns: he/him/his)

Thomas Veblen: Forest Ecology
Department of Geography
University of Colorado at Boulder

Affiliates

Robert Andrus
School of the Environment
Washington State University

Cliff Bueno de Mesquita
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Diane Ebert-May
Distinguished Professor
Michigan State University

Katja Friedrich
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
University of Colorado at Boulder

Iggy Litaor
Galilee Research Institute and Tel Hai College
Upper Galilee, Israel

(Pronouns: he/him/his)

Daniel Liptzin
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
University of Colorado at Boulder

(Pronouns: he/him/his)

Nicole Miller-Struttmann
Department of Biology
Webster University

Courtenay Ray
Department of Biology
University of Wyoming

Klara Scharnagl
Jepson Herbarium
University of California Berkeley

Kamini Singha
Department of Geology and Geological Engineering
Colorado School of Mines

(Pronouns: she/her/hers)

Ryan Webb
Center for Water and the Environment
University of New Mexico

(Pronouns: he/him/his)

To discuss becoming an affiliate of Niwot Ridge LTER, please contact the LTER coordinator.

Postdoctoral researchers

Katya Jay
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
University of Colorado at Boulder

Jon Henn
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
University of Colorado at Boulder

Graduate students

Monica Brady
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Tulane University

Josh Carrell
Department of Forest & Rangeland Stewardship
Colorado State University

Casey Carroll
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Douglas Castro
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Rachel Chai
Department of Geography
University of Colorado at Boulder

Alec Chiono
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado Boulder

Ryan Conway
Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology
University of California Riverside

Michael Hoffert
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado Boulder

Joey Lodge
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado Boulder

(Pronouns: they/them)

Hannah Miller
Department of Environmental Studies
University of Colorado at Boulder

(Pronouns: she/her/hers)

Airy Peralta
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Laura Rea
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Zachary Schwartz
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado at Boulder

Megan Szojka
Department of Botany
University of Wyoming

Caitlin White
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
University of Colorado at Boulder

(Pronouns: she/her/hers)

To see a list of all Niwot Ridge Alumni, click here