INVESTIGATORS
Matthew Bowker, Lead PI
Northern Arizona University
Background: Matt Bowker is a community ecologist and restoration ecologist. He has focused on soil biota in dryland ecosystems throughout his career and readily admits an inordinate fondness for biocrusts since his first research project as an undergraduate. He is actively involved in development of methodologies to restore biocrusts to degraded ecosystems, drawing lessons from community ecology related to community assembly processes, alternate state and resilience concepts, and species interactions.
Project roles: Coordinate the network, oversee sample processing and data management at NAU
Contact: matthew.bowker@nau.edu
Anita Antoninka, co-PI
Northern Arizona University
Background: Anita Antoninka is an ecologist with emphasis on soils, interactions with primary producers, restoration and community interactions. She develops methods to cultivate, reinoculate, and scale up biocrust restoration with a focus on climate resilience.
Project roles: Project coordination
Contact: Anita.Antoninka@nau.edu
Javier Ceja Navarro, co-PI
Northern Arizona University
Background: Javier Ceja Navarro is a microbial ecologist specializing in the interactions between microorganisms and their environments, with a focus on nutrient cycling and environmental remediation.
Project roles: Analyze microbial community composition and function in soil and biocrust samples, conduct metagenomic and biochemical assays, and contribute to data interpretation.
Contact: Javier.Ceja-Navarro@nau.edu
Sasha Reed, co-PI
U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center
Background: Sasha Reed is an ecologist specializing in ecosystem processes and biogeochemistry. Her research explores nutrient cycling, carbon dynamics, and the effects of environmental change on ecosystems.
Project roles: Project development, recruitment, and coordination; measure biocrust functional traits, including C and N fixation.
Contact: screed@usgs.gov
Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi, co-PI
University of Texas at El Paso, Department of Biological Sciences
Background: Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi is an ecosystem ecologist and soil biogeochemist. His lab focuses on belowground processes using techniques like gas exchange measurements, isotopic analyses, and soil chemistry. He has studied biocrust photosynthesis and fungal loop exchange mechanisms.
Project roles: Process biocrust and soil samples at UTEP; webmaster. Analyses include soil characteristics, elemental composition, and enzymatic function.
Contact: ajdarrouzetnardi@utep.edu
Sierra Jech, Postdoctoral Researcher
Northern Arizona University, Center for Ecosystem Science and Society
Background: Sierra Jech is a soil microbial ecologist. Her Ph.D. work focused on dryland restoration with biocrusts. She brings field, lab, and computational expertise in microbial ecology.
Project roles: Coordination, node installation, training material development, DNA lab work and analysis.
Contact: sierra.jech@nau.edu