Contact

Kari E. Veblen
Professor
​Kari received her PhD in ecology from University of California-Davis and was a post-doc with the USGS in Corvallis, OR. She is an ecologist with broad interests, including livestock-wildlife-plant interactions, plant community ecology, grazing ecology, and restoration ecology. Current field site locations include the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau, USA, and Kenya, East Africa.​

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​Maria Stahl
PhD student, Quinney Fellow
​​Maria is working on a USDA NIFA-funded project that explores the compatibility of Criollo cattle, a heritage breed, with Colorado Plateau landscapes. 

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​Josh Day
PhD student
​​Josh is studying the patterns and drivers of sagebrush establishment and persistence in rangelands of the Colorado Plateau. 

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​Spencer Good
MS student
​As part of a project funded by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Spencer is working on a broadscale experiment that tests how composition of restoration seed mixes and associated seeding practices can be modified to overcome establishment barriers associated with particular site conditions.

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​Alex Stosich
MS student
Alex is working on a field and greenhouse project focused on the propagation and out-planting of a rare plant (Penstemon albomarginatus) in the eastern Mojave Desert, informing potential management efforts for the threatened species. This project is in collaboration with Dr. Lesley DeFalco at USGS-WERC. 

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Brittany Johnson
MS student
Brittany is working to create spatially explicit models of phenotypic traits of bluebunch wheatgrass by utilizing field and geospatial data. These predictive models will aid in quick, optimal selection of plant materials during long-term breeding programs. This project is in collaboration with Dr. Steve Larson and Dr. Alex Hernandez at the USDA-ARS. 

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Luke Forsberg
Undergraduate researcher
Luke is using wildlife camera trap photos to examine wildlife use and behavior associated with cattle exclosures on the Colorado Plateau. His research is supported by USU URCO and QCNR Undergraduate Research Grants.

​Lab Alumni
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Grad students
McKenna Delton, M.S. (2024; co-advised with Dr. Tom Monaco): "Evaluating bluebunch wheatgrass plant materials for the Central Basin and Range"­­­­­
Sofia Koutzoukis, PhD, (2023): “A fine-scale understanding of sagebrush islands to improve restoration outcomes in the Intermountain West”
Liz Bailey, MS (2021): "Transplanting mature mountain big sagebrush plants yields high first-year survival in former agricultural lands"
Kyle Nehring, MS (2021): "Interactive effects of soil and browsing on big sagebrush: implications for restoration success​"
​Merran Owen, MS (2020; co-advised with Dr. Tom Monaco): ​"Effects of biocrust development on establishment of native plants in a salt desert system"
Eric LaMalfa, (Quinney Fellow), PhD (2018): “Fire-herbivory interactions in an East African savanna: effects on Acacia drepanolobium and the demographic bottleneck”
Brittany Duncan, MS (2018; co-advised with Dr. Karin Kettenring): “Impacts of cattle grazing as a tool to control Phragmites australis in wetlands on nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon”
Lacey Wilder, MS (2016; co-advised with Dr. Tom Monaco): "Assessment of restoration seedings on Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative project sites"
​Rebecca Mann, MS (2016): “Intraspecific variation in the response of Elymus elymoides to competition from Bromus tectorum”
Maike Holthuijzen (NSF Graduate Research Fellow), MS (2015): “Grass-shrub spatial associations over precipitation and grazing gradients in the Great Basin”

Post-docs
Abdullahi Ali (2017-2022)
Corinna Riginos (2016 - 2017)
Huiqin He (2015 - 2016; co-advised with Dr. Tom Monaco)
Lin Liu (2014 - 2015; co-advised with Dr. Tom Monaco)

Undergraduate researchers
Elise Riley (2019 - 2021; co-advised with Dr. Julia Burton)
Amberlee Burrows (2016)
Justin Taylor (2015 - 2017; co-advised with Dr. Juan Villalba & Dr. Eric Thacker)
Lacey Wilder (2015)
Sara Germain (2014 - 2016)
Trec Reed (2014 - 2015)
Hope Braithwaite (2013 - 2015; co-advised with Dr. Juan Villalba & Dr. Eric Thacker)
Tim Bateman (2013 - 2015; co-advised with Dr. Juan Villalba & Dr. Eric Thacker)
Brittany Duncan (2013-2014)