People

Dr. Marcy Litvak (PI)
Marcy is a Professor in the Biology Department of University of New Mexico. She received her B.A. with honors in 1989 from Colorado College, and her Ph.D. in Plant Physiological Ecology in 1998 from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research focus is on understanding how ecosystem processes vary across ecological gradients in semi-arid biomes. She is particularly interested in quantifying how climate and disturbance alter carbon, water and energy dynamics in the Southwestern U.S.

For more information: CV (below picture), Google Scholar, or Research Gate.
Contact info: faculty web page

Graduate Students

Alesia Hallmark, MS, PhD Candidate:
Alesia Hallmark is fascinated by the phenology and life histories of aridland species. These species have evolved to survive in some of the hottest, driest, and most unpredictable conditions. Using eddy covariance, remote sensing, long-term ecological data, and near-surface repeat digital photography, Alesia studies how aridland species, communities, and ecosystems survive and reproduce in these challenging conditions across an elevation gradient in the Rio Grande valley of New Mexico, with a focus on ecosystems within the Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research site. Originally from Oklahoma, Alesia attended Oklahoma State University, where she received Bachelor's degrees in Zoology and Botany, studying everything from bluebirds to native ferns. She then worked as the Supervisor of Undergraduate Laboratories at the University of Miami. In her free time, Alesia enjoys hiking, climbing, and photographing this beautiful state she now calls home with her trusty hound, Stella.

Corrie Reasner, BS is a masters student looking at seedling regeneration after disturbance in PJ woodlands in the context of climate change. She received her BS in Conservation Ecology from New Mexico State University in 2013. Corrie has been working for Natural Heritage New Mexico since 2014 and is currently the lead-technician on a statewide riparian and wetland habitat mapping project. She was born and raised in the middle Rio Grande Valley and her love for ecology and the southwest stemmed from her experiences as a teenager working with her father on various ecological restoration projects. She loves all things New Mexico and takes any opportunity she can to enjoy all the wonderful outdoor activities it has to offer.

Robert Mullin, BS was the lead technician on the project to examine hydrological tipping points in PJ woodlands. He is now pursuing a masters degree with Will Pockman and Marcy Litvak. He received his BS in Environmental Science with a focus on resource management and ecology from Bucknell University in 2011. Previously, Bobby served as the ecological technician at the carbon flux study sites. Bobby’s previous research experience involves the sustainable use of water resources, watershed scale mapping of invasive freshwater bivalve species, and also a forest inventory and diet study of an endemic primate species in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Prior to joining the lab, and moving to New Mexico, Bobby worked in the environmental consulting industry. He focused on groundwater restoration, pollution control and environmental regulatory compliance in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Ryan Schulze, BS is a masters student with broad research interests in ecological forestry. His current research focus is looking at how semi-arid forest's land-atmosphere CO2 exchange and evapotranspiration change following wildfire induced secondary succession. Ryan was born and raised in the Idaho panhandle and moved to the beautiful state of New Mexico during a military enlistment. Upon finishing his time in the military, he stayed in New Mexico to earn a BS in Biochemistry and BA in Biology at the University of New Mexico. He enjoys a variety of outdoor activities, tinkering with mechanical systems and exploring wild lands.

Ted Roper, BS is a PhD candidate who is interested in how carbon flux dynamics differ in relation to precipitation pulses and climate variation across distinctive, semi-arid grassland plant communities in the Southwestern U.S. He received his BS in Biology, with a focus in Plant Ecology, from Northern Michigan University in 2019. Prior to joining the Litvak Lab, Ted conducted a two-year pollination study on the bog orchid Calopogon tuberosus in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Since first visiting New Mexico in 2003, it became an aspiration of his to live there. Now, not only does he get to live in this beautiful environment, he also has the opportunity to learn more about the plant community dynamics and contribute to the body of knowledge that will play a key role in protecting and preserving these diverse ecosystems.

Professional Staff

Dr. Tomer Duman, is a research assistant professor who studies the interactions between vegetation and its surrounding environment as a key component for understanding the effects of environmental changes. Tomer’s research work deals with atmospheric boundary layer flows and lies in the intersection between ecology, meteorology and engineering. His research topics include problems such as estimation of flux footprint, assessment and analysis of ecosystems gas exchange, energy and water balance, and modeling the dispersion of gasses and heavy particles within and above canopies in the atmosphere. To answer these questions, Tomer uses diverse techniques, including numerical modeling, and collection and analysis of high frequency atmospheric measurements and additional ecophysiological measurements.
Google Scholar
Research Gate

Dr. Cheng-Wei Huang is a post-doc with research expertise in the use of laboratory and field data, theoretical and numerical modeling studies to describe the biotic and abiotic pathways associated with the transport processes of atmospheric substances, such as aerosol particles and biologically active gases (e.g., CO2 and H2O). His doctoral research focused on refining the descriptions of these dynamic processes that are commonly employed in the global climate models. Currently, he is particularly interested in exploring the feedback cycle of coupled soil-plant-atmosphere system by means of empirical studies combined with physical- and biophysiological-based modelling tools. This long-term research goal aligns to improve the understanding on how climate change impacts human societies and natural ecosystems, and their feedbacks to the climate. This is the research need for mitigation and adaptation actions in water resources management, food supply management, ecosystem services, air quality control and climate change predictions.

Mikael Schlumpf, BS is the lead technician in charge of maintaining instrumentation and keeping everything running on all 9 towers. He received his BS in applied mathematics and engineering, with a focus on electrical control and communication systems, from Queen's University in Kingston, Canada. Mikael has worked across a wide variety of industries from data center control system design, to residential construction to avalanche hazard forecasting and technician work. As well as his interests in engineering and instrumentation, Mikael is passionate about exploring and understanding wild places

Nicholas Smith, BS is the ecology technician for the nine flux tower sites, and is responsible for surveying the plant community within the fetch of the towers. Nick received his BS in Biological Anthropology and Psychology focusing on primate behavior and cognitive ability from the University of New Mexico in 2006, and has also completed post-baccalaureate studies in Biology. While his career started in zoos and aquariums, Nick returned to the research world in 2012 and has held several ecologist positions ranging in specialization from stable isotopes, to genetics, and currently botany. Nick is originally from Tampa Bay, Florida, and has been interested in studying and protecting pristine and natural environments throughout his life. His passions lie in understanding species interactions and community assemblages in ecosystems and promoting conservation of native habitats.

Devon Fisher-Chavez, BS graduated from UNM in 2019 with degrees in both Biology and Comparative Literature. He worked in our lab as an undergraduate for 2 years, and we were fortunately able to hire him as a full-time technician for the 2019/2020 year before he heads off to medical school. Devon's specialty is in building, maintaining and analyzing data from sap flow probes. His honors thesis used flux tower data and sap flux at the US-Vcp site to examine if it looks like ponderosa pine trees at this site are able to access groundwater during dry periods. He will expand this to look at other sites and submit it for publication later this year.

Past Lab Members

Huge shout out to all the people who have worked in the Litvak Lab in the past and who poured an enormous amount of time and energy into building up our flux tower gradient and datasets. It would not have been possible without their enormous efforts. They are listed here in no particular order.

Graduate Students

Amanda Leibrecht, PhD
Dan Krofcheck, PhD
M. Shawn Brumbaugh, PhD
Ann Thijs, PhD
Tamara Basham, PhD
Amanda Sacks, MS
Michelle Nuanez, MS
Daniel Brese, MS Plan II
Amy Bennett, MS Plan II

Postdocs

Krista Anderson Teixera
Andy Fox
Tim Hilton
Greg Maurer
Dan Krofcheck
Rob Pangle
Laura Morillas Gonzalez
Mike Fuller

Lead Instrument Technicians

Steven Crisp
Alex Moody
Andy Hawk
Leo Stoscheck
Skyler Hackley
Jonathan Furst
Christopher Russell

Lead Ecology Technicians

Margaret Schluter
Stephanie Schmiege
Christy Lowney
Bobby Mullin
Melissa Baciagalupa
Andrea Urioste

Field Technicians and Crew

Laura Pages Barcelo
Grady Ball
Sarah Lujan
Pavel Vahkhlamov
Emma Elliot-Smith
Anita Enriquez
Tallie Segel
Eva Detweiler-Robinson

Teresa Conway
Kelly Williamson
Caitlin Wolf
Gaea McGahee
Nate Ritz
Cecilia Payan
Shaila Cochran

Sarah Hicks Dean
Kathryn Harris
Devon Fisher-Chavez
Thommy Thompson
Nina Vakhlamova
Sabrina McNew
Ryan Evansen