Team Members

Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife
Oregon State University
104 Nash Hall
(541) 737-0008
Corvallis, OR 97331
lisa.ellsworth@oregonstate.edu

Lisa is first and foremost a conservation biologist, and believes strongly that strengthening the ties between people and place through education and outreach is one of our most important tools to conserve landscapes. She works as a research professor of fire and habitat ecology in the department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University and is a science communication fellow through the Wilburforce Foundation. Her research is focused on finding strategies to improve rangeland resilience to wildfire for both human and non-human inhabitants.

Great Basin Rangelands Research
USDA Agricultural Research Service
920 Valley Road
Reno, NV 89512
(775) 784-6057 ext. 233
Beth.Newingham@ars.usda.gov

Dr. Newingham is a Research Ecologist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Reno, NV. Her research focuses on linking plant and soil processes in the context of community and ecosystem ecology, fire, restoration, and climate change.

Forest & Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
USGS, Biological Resources Division
3200 SW Jefferson Way
Corvallis, Oregon 97331
office: (541) 750-0942
cell: (541) 908-6908
sshaff@usgs.gov

Scott manages the day-to-day operations of SageSTEP West study sites, including field and laboratory work.  His principle duties include plot layout, coordinating and overseeing treatment application, fuels data collection, soil sampling, data management, and manuscript preparation.

Claire Williams is a Research Technician at UNR and manages the SageSTEP East network

Human Dimensions Program
Rocky Mountain Research Station
USDA Forest Service
800 East Beckwith Avenue
Missoula, Montana 59801-5801
(406) 546-5875
matt.c.reeves@usda.gov

Matt specializes in use of remote sensing and GIS to facilitate evaluation of contemporary issues facing US rangelands. He is interested in facilitating management and administration of the nations’ rangelands and is pursuing numerous efforts to improve the quality and usefulness of forest plan revisions. His research spans four themes: climate change, decision support tools, inventory and monitoring, threat assessment.

Brigham Young University
Department of Plant and Wildlife Science
275 WIDB
Provo, Utah 84602
office: (801) 422-3177
cell: (435) 590-1192
huletapril@hotmail.com

Utah State University
Department of Environment & Society
5215 Old Main Hill
Logan, Utah 84322-5215
(435) 797-2458
Mark.Brunson@usu.edu

Dr. Brunson conducts research on social aspects of management change in rangeland and forest systems, including public acceptability and knowledge regarding wildland ecosystems and their management, adoption of new practices by public and private land managers, and the connections between biophysical and socio-demographic changes.

Utah State University
Wildland Resources Department
5230 Old Main Hill
Logan, Utah 84322-5230
(435) 797-2475
Schupp@cnr.usu.edu

Dr. Schupp’s primary research focus is the critical seed and seedling stages of plant establishment-the ecology of seed production and dispersal, seed survival and germination, and seedling survival and growth. The goal is to contribute to the development of an understanding of plant population and, ultimately, community dynamics by understanding processes controlling quantitative and spatial patterns of plant recruitment.

Forest & Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
USGS, Biological Resources Division
3200 S.W. Jefferson Way
Corvallis, Oregon 97331
(541) 750-7334
david_a_pyke@usgs.gov

Dr. Pyke studies the population ecology of native and invasive plants in the Intermountain West with an emphasis on restoring native plants on invaded landscapes. He also specializes in developing monitoring protocols for ecosystem integrity on wild lands.

Brigham Young University
701 East University Parkway Drive
4105 LSB
Provo, UT 84602
(801)422-8137
Bruce_Roundy@byu.edu

Dr. Roundy’s research projects include establishment ecology of weeds and native plants, vegetation disturbance thresholds for management of sagebrush systems, watershed responses to management practices, and increasing diversity of fire rehabilitation and other range seedings.

USDA Agricultural Research Service
Southwest Watershed Research Center
2000 East Allen Road
Tucson, AZ 85719
jason.williams@ars.usda.gov

Dr. Williams’ research explores ecohydrologic feedbacks between vegetation, soils, and the atmosphere. Much of his current research centers on the effects of disturbances (e.g., plant community transitions and wildland fire) and conservation/restoration practices on vegetation, soils, and hydrologic and erosion processes spanning the rangeland to dry forest continuum in the western US. His research focuses on improving scientific understanding and providing land management agencies, private landowners, and other entities with knowledge, models, and other tools to better assess and manage wildland landscapes. His specific objective for this project is to characterize the hydrologic and erosion impacts of different levels of woodland encroachment and tree removal by fire and mechanical treatment methods. 

USDA-Agricultural Research Service
Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit
Building 3702 Curtin Road
University Park, PA 16802
814-865-1067
ben.rau@ars.usda.gov

Ben Rau is a soil scientist for the USDA-ARS. His work with SageSTEP is related to vegetation shifts and ecosystem rehabilitation effects on total carbon and nitrogen budgets and plant-soil interactions in the Great Basin. Ben is coordinating the SageSTEP soil and vegetation chemistry studies.

USDA Agricultural Research Service
251 E Front Street, Suite 400
Boise, Idaho 83702
fred.pierson@ars.usda.gov

Dr. Pierson’s research explores hydrologic impacts of rangeland management and restoration activities. His specific objective for this project is to characterize the hydrologic and erosion impacts of different levels of juniper encroachment and juniper control methods of fire and mechanical cutting.​

Bureau of Land Management
Idaho State Office
1387 S Vinnell Way
Boise, Idaho 83709
(208) 373-3823
mike_pellant@blm.gov

As Coordinator of the Great Basin Restoration Initiative, Mike Pellant works to develop and implement partnership-based management strategies to restore areas of high values, reduce the effects of annual grasses and noxious weeds in others, and reverse the destructive cycle of wildland fires and weeds.