Image credit: 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. For her graduate work, she is studying how human activities mediate the nutritional quality and community composition of shorebird invertebrate prey, with the goal of helping to inform shorebird conservation in the Arctic and the Texas Gulf Coast.
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. For her graduate work, she is studying how human activities mediate the nutritional quality and community composition of shorebird invertebrate prey, with the goal of helping to inform shorebird conservation in the Arctic and the Texas Gulf Coast.
ANNIE CRESS
PhD student
Annie is a rising second 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 rising second 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!
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.
SAVANNAH COFFELT
Undergraduate student
Savannah is a senior Biology major with a concentration in wildlife conservation at Fort Valley State University. She is interested in terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates and has a passion for endangered species recovery.
Undergraduate student
Savannah is a senior Biology major with a concentration in wildlife conservation at Fort Valley State University. She is interested in terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates and has a passion for endangered species recovery.
MADDIE SCHOUMAN
Undergraduate student
Maddie is a junior major in Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity at the University of Michigan interested in disease ecology and conservation.
Undergraduate student
Maddie is a junior major in Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity at the University of Michigan interested in disease ecology and conservation.
ZOE VANCE
Undergraduate student
Zoe is a Public Health Science major at the University of Michigan interested in environmental health sciences and epidemiology. She's currently contributing to our mouse-parasite project. Outside of school and field work, Zoe enjoys reading, hiking, and pickleball.
Undergraduate student
Zoe is a Public Health Science major at the University of Michigan interested in environmental health sciences and epidemiology. She's currently contributing to our mouse-parasite project. Outside of school and field work, Zoe enjoys reading, hiking, and pickleball.
