Photos by Katie Harris
People
AMANDA KOLTZ
Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator
KATIE HARRIS
Postdoctoral Scholar
Katie is an ecological entomologist who earned her PhD from the University of Missouri in 2023. She is interested in examining how environmental changes influence dung beetles and their ecosystem services. When she isn’t wrangling dung beetles, Katie enjoys spending time with her exotic pets and eating sushi.
Postdoctoral Scholar
Katie is an ecological entomologist who earned her PhD from the University of Missouri in 2023. She is interested in examining how environmental changes influence dung beetles and their ecosystem services. When she isn’t wrangling dung beetles, Katie enjoys spending time with her exotic pets and eating sushi.
NEVO SAGI
BARD Postdoctoral Fellow
Nevo is fascinated by the workings of ecosystems and devote my research to unraveling their complexities. His work integrates concepts and methods from both community and ecosystem ecology, with a particular focus on zoogeochemistry—the role of animals in biogeochemical cycles under varying environmental conditions. He is currently investigating how interactions between large herbivores and soil fauna influence carbon dynamics along a broad aridity gradient across Texas rangelands. This research aims to uncover the mechanisms driving these processes and to understand their implications for carbon cycling and ecosystem health in a changing climate.
ResearchGate profile
Google Scholar
BARD Postdoctoral Fellow
Nevo is fascinated by the workings of ecosystems and devote my research to unraveling their complexities. His work integrates concepts and methods from both community and ecosystem ecology, with a particular focus on zoogeochemistry—the role of animals in biogeochemical cycles under varying environmental conditions. He is currently investigating how interactions between large herbivores and soil fauna influence carbon dynamics along a broad aridity gradient across Texas rangelands. This research aims to uncover the mechanisms driving these processes and to understand their implications for carbon cycling and ecosystem health in a changing climate.
ResearchGate profile
Google Scholar
JULIA BERLINER
PhD student
Julia earned her MS in Entomology at the University of Georgia, where she studied how insect herbivores and predators respond to soil nutrient availability depending on their diet breadth. She is fascinated by how biogeochemical cycles ubiquitously shape ecosystems by governing community composition and trophic interactions. Julia is thrilled to be part of a lab group curious about how ecosystem functions not only depend on nutrient availability, but also how they shape nutrient cycling in return. She feels so lucky to study how the conservation of migratory shorebirds may depend on how human activities mediate the nutritional quality and community composition of shorebirds' invertebrate prey.
PhD student
Julia earned her MS in Entomology at the University of Georgia, where she studied how insect herbivores and predators respond to soil nutrient availability depending on their diet breadth. She is fascinated by how biogeochemical cycles ubiquitously shape ecosystems by governing community composition and trophic interactions. Julia is thrilled to be part of a lab group curious about how ecosystem functions not only depend on nutrient availability, but also how they shape nutrient cycling in return. She feels so lucky to study how the conservation of migratory shorebirds may depend on how human activities mediate the nutritional quality and community composition of shorebirds' invertebrate prey.
ANNIE CRESS
PhD student
Annie is a first year PhD student interested in untangling the ways both living organisms and environmental conditions shape ecological processes. She is especially curious about the ways food webs and community interactions drive ecosystem functioning. Currently, using wild, white-footed deer mice and their helminth parasites as a model system, she is exploring how sublethal infections shape the condition, diet, microbiome, and behavior of this widespread wild species. When she isn’t linking small organisms to large ecosystem level processes, she enjoys playing pickleball, spending time with friends, and introducing children to the fascinating world of ecology through outreach!
PhD student
Annie is a first year PhD student interested in untangling the ways both living organisms and environmental conditions shape ecological processes. She is especially curious about the ways food webs and community interactions drive ecosystem functioning. Currently, using wild, white-footed deer mice and their helminth parasites as a model system, she is exploring how sublethal infections shape the condition, diet, microbiome, and behavior of this widespread wild species. When she isn’t linking small organisms to large ecosystem level processes, she enjoys playing pickleball, spending time with friends, and introducing children to the fascinating world of ecology through outreach!
KRISTY TAN
PhD student
Kristy is a conservation ecologist interested in resilience to climate change and other anthropogenic stressors.
PhD student
Kristy is a conservation ecologist interested in resilience to climate change and other anthropogenic stressors.
ELISE BOWMAN
Undergraduate student
Elise is a senior environmental science major interested in biodiversity conservation, ecosystem functioning and interactions! She is conducting her capstone project with the lab on dung beetles and the ecosystem functions they provide.
Undergraduate student
Elise is a senior environmental science major interested in biodiversity conservation, ecosystem functioning and interactions! She is conducting her capstone project with the lab on dung beetles and the ecosystem functions they provide.
TAMARA RHODES
Undergraduate student
Tamara is a junior microbiology major interested in microbial ecology, and the role that microbes play in biogeochemical cycles! She's also pursuing a BDP certificate in Environment and Sustainability
Undergraduate student
Tamara is a junior microbiology major interested in microbial ecology, and the role that microbes play in biogeochemical cycles! She's also pursuing a BDP certificate in Environment and Sustainability
NIRMITI KERKAR
Undergraduate student
Nirmiti is a sophomore Biology major interested in interactions among species and how they can affect the environment at large. In her natural habitat, she is often found napping in the sun, swimming when she should be working, and spending time with friends.
Undergraduate student
Nirmiti is a sophomore Biology major interested in interactions among species and how they can affect the environment at large. In her natural habitat, she is often found napping in the sun, swimming when she should be working, and spending time with friends.
