Debra Peters deb.peters@usda.gov

I have a B.S. in Biology from Iowa State University, an M.S. in Biology from San​ Diego State University, and a Ph.D. in Range Science from Colorado State​ University. As a landscape ecologist, my interests span spatial and temporal​ scales, and often intersect with other disciplines. My research has an underlying​ theme of complexity with nonlinearities and cross-scale interactions for which we​ are looking for the simplest possible explanations. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family, running and hiking with my vizsla, and playing with​ my dachshund, Dash.

Geovany Ramirez​ garamirez.jrn.lter@gmail.com

I am a research assistant professor at the Jornada Basin LTER. I have a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Texas at El Paso, where I was working with machine learning and computer vision. I have a strong passion for discovering new ways to apply computer science to environmental science. I am currently working on developing tools for data analysis and QA/QC using machine learning.

Heather Savoy heather.savoy@usda.gov

I have a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a designated emphasis in Computational Data Science and Engineering from UC Berkeley. I am a eco-informaticist at the Jornada Experimental Range and my research interests involve building interactive tools to automate data analysis workflows and modeling stochastic spatiotemporal processes.

Dylan Burruss dylanb.jrn.lter@gmail.com

I have a M.Sc. in wildlife sciences and a minor in statistics from New Mexico State University. I work as an ecologist for the Jornada Experimental Range. My work principally focuses on exploring ecological and environmental processes associated with the VSV, Catastrophes, and Grass Recovery big data projects. I am interested in the union of quantitative analytics and collaborative inter-disciplinary science, especially, in the context of landscape and community ecology, conservation biology, and human-wildlife interaction components.

Nina Joffe njoffe.jrn.lter@gmail.com

I have a B.S. in Environmental Science from Rider University and a Ph.D. in Biology from New Mexico State University. My previous research focused on the physiological effects that ocean acidification might have on marine organisms and marine symbioses. Currently, I am a project manager at the Jornada Basin LTER.

Haitao Huang

I have a M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas at El Paso, and work as a College Assistant Professor at the Jornada Experimental Range. My work mainly includes developing and maintaining the relational databases and data processing for ecological projects, the simulation model ECOTONE to simulate vegetation dynamics of herbaceous and woody species at transition zones, and the grassland simulation model SOILWAT for soil water dynamics and seedling establishment.

John Humphreys

I am a postdoctoral research ecologist with the USDA ARS.  I received my PhD from Florida State University in 2018, where I designed novel spatial statistical approaches to integrate environmental, phylogenetic, and species morphological data.  My research is focused on the development of new spatial-temporal modeling techniques to quantify the roles of climate change, animal movement, and human dominated landscapes in facilitating wildlife‐livestock infectious disease transmission.

Lucas Heintzman

I am an ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow with the USDA ARS. I hold a B.S. in Biology from the University of South Dakota, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Biology from Texas Tech University. My primary research interests include applications of landscape ecological principles to quantify land use/land cover changes within agroecosystems and their subsequent alterations of connectivity networks. My methods use a diverse suite of “big data” sources, geographic information systems, and remote sensing techniques. I am also interested in pattern and process relationships in urban and wetland environments.

Katie Young​

I completed my M.Sc. and PhD in Biology with a research focus in ecology and evolution at New Mexico State University. My research interests lie broadly in the mechanisms of arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) emergence. I employ an inter-disciplinary research approach including field-based sampling, molecular biology, and open-source data to better understand the host-vector-environmental interactions that act as drivers for arbovirus emergence into novel hosts and regions. Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow with a research focus on vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) transmission ecology in Mexico and the Rio Grande region of New Mexico, USA.

Amy Hudson

I am an ORISE Postdoctoral fellow with USDA ARS and SCINet. I have a PhD in Natural Resources from the University of Arizona. My research examines interactions between climate and ecosystem phenology at broad spatial scales. I am currently investigating the role of circulation patterns in driving the distribution of vector-borne disease (VSV and West Nile) outbreaks across North America.

Kerrie Geil

I am a SCINet Postdoctoral Research Fellow with USDA-ARS and have a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Arizona. My research background is in global and regional climate modeling, climate model performance evaluation, weather and climate dynamics of the North American Monsoon system, global to regional scale climate dynamics, and climate extremes. I am currently contributing ecologically-relevant climate analyses and projections to interdisciplinary ARS research projects. I am also interested in using machine learning to develop models for predicting various geospatial dynamics.

Susan Stillman

I am an ORISE SCINet fellow, with a PhD in hydrometeorology from the University of Arizona. My research interests include making the best use of the already available suite of hydrologic observational data to gain a better understanding of the future hydroclimate. I am currently analyzing Jornada precipitation for climate analyses and to work toward an understanding of how vegetation responds to multi-year precipitation regimes.

Melanie Kammerer

I am a SCINet postdoctoral fellow with USDA ARS. In 2020, I completed my PhD in Ecology at Penn State University where I studied landscape and climate drivers of wild-bee communities. I am broadly interested in conserving insect biodiversity in agricultural landscapes, which I study by integrating long-term monitoring data, targeted field studies, high-resolution landscape characterization, and spatial models. I am deeply committed to open, reproducible science that is accessible to and informed by diverse stakeholders, which I am excited to continue with the vibrant ARS SCINet community.