Associate Professor, School of Plant Sciences

Research expertise: My research program focuses on understanding the natural genetic and phenotypic variation present in plant populations and how this can be leveraged to develop climate resilient crop cultivars capable of withstanding hotter, drier environments.

Area of research in ARID: I am focused on dissecting and understanding the physiological mechanisms and genetics responses that plants use to cope with drought stress.

Interim Director, School of Plant Sciences

Research expertise: I study plant microbiomes, bringing together organismal biology, systematics, functional traits analyses, and -omics to understand how plant traits are extended, complemented by, and determined by microbial symbionts in soils and plant tissues.

Area of research in ARID: I focus on arid land microbiomes and the ways in which they improve plant resilience to stress, linking principles from the ecology of wild systems to agroecosystem dynamics.

Assistant Professor, Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences

Research expertise: My research focuses on advance our understanding and predictive power of the role of the biotic components (vegetation, microbial communities, and humans) of the Earth system in land and climate interactions. 

Area of research in ARID: I am focused on developing numerical tools for evaluating the effects of agriculture practices and bioengineering on the crop productivity under abiotic stresses.

Professor, School of Natural Resources & the Environment

Research expertise: My research program investigates the ecological responses of soil microorganisms to climate warming, wildfires, and drought - and what this means for carbon nutrient cycling in soils.

Professor, School of Plant Sciences

Research expertise: My research program focuses on developing computational systems and tool sets for life science research. I aim to lower the barrier to accessing cutting-edge algorithms and computing resources so researchers spend more time discovering biological insights. 

Area of research in ARID: Fix people's computers and networks when they don't connect to the printer. (Providing guidance and recommendations for data analysis and computing.)

Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, Soil Health

Research expertise: My research program aims to study soil biogeochemical dynamics, which can help find sustainable and regenerative solutions to improve soil health in arid and semi-arid agroecosystems, bolstering global food security.

Area of research in ARID: My research will investigate innovative soil management techniques for potential crop quality, productivity and ecosystem benefits.

Assistant Professor, School of Plant Sciences 

Research expertise: My research program focuses on understanding the interactions between plants, humans, and the microbial communities that cycle nutrients within soils. I am particularly interested in rewilding plant-microbe interactions in agroecosystems, with the aim of reintroducing and conserving the important role of soil microbes within these systems.

Area of research in ARID: I am interested in understanding how we can best manage agroecosystem soil microbial communities via ecological interactions to benefit society.

Assistant Professor, School of Plant Sciences

Research expertise: I am a crop molecular physiologist and my lab studies stress-induced metabolic and oxidative stress changes that occur during the development of crops grown in the field under a large spectrum of environmental stressors, with a special focus on heat and drought.

Area of research in ARID: I am focused on metabolic and oxidative stress profiling of crop diversity panels grown in the Arizona low desert.

Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Science

Research expertise: My research program focuses on understanding ways to assess and enhance agricultural soil health in arid and semi-arid regions.

Area of research in ARID: My soil health work focuses on plant-microbe interactions, organic matter stabilization, nutrient-use efficiency, greenhouse gas fluxes, disease suppression, crop nutrient density, and salinity mitigation and adaptation.