School of Earth & Sustainability
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Faculty profiles
Meet the faculty members of Northern Arizona University’s School of Earth & Sustainability. Find their research interests, web links, and contact information below.
James Sample, SES Director
Professor
Office: Building 13 Rm #210
Phone: 928-523-0881
Email: James.Sample@nau.edu
Research interests: Tectonics, geochemistry, structural geology
Clare Aslan, SES Associate Director
Associate Professor
Office: Building 19 Rm #120
Phone: 928-523-2487
Email: Clare.Aslan@nau.edu
Research interests: Community ecology, conservation biology
R. Scott Anderson
Professor
Office: Building 19 Rm #137
Phone: 928-523-5821
Email: Scott.Anderson@nau.edu
Research interests: Paleoecology, human-landscape interactions, forest history
Rebecca Best
Assistant Professor
Office: Building 19 Rm #119/120
Phone: 928-523-8155
Email: Rebecca.Best@nau.edu
Research interests: Aquatic ecology, evolution, and conservation
Brett Dickson
Associate Professor
Office: Building 56 Rm #130
Phone: 928-523-3592
Email: Brett.Dickson@nau.edu
Research interests: Conservation biology, landscape and wildlife ecology, statistical ecology
Diana Elder
Associate Professor
Office: Building 69 Rm #322
Phone: 928-523-4123
Email: Diana.Elder@nau.edu
Research interests: Quaternary geology
Michael Erb
Assistant Research Professor
Office: Building 12 Rm #221
Email: Michael.Erb@nau.edu
Research interests: Paleoclimatology, climate modeling, data assimilation
John Fegyveresi
Assistant Professor of Practice
Office: Building 12 Rm #107A
Email: John.Fegyveresi@nau.edu
Research interests: Quaternary climate science, glaciology, ice cores
James Gaherty
Professor
Office: Building 13 Rm #206
Phone: 928-523-1052
Email: James.Gaherty@nau.edu
Research interests: Seismology, geophysics, tectonics
Thomas Hoisch
Professor
Office: Building 12 Rm #227
Phone: 928-523-1904
Email: Thomas.Hoisch@nau.edu
Research interests: Metamorphic petrology, orogenesis, geodynamic modeling
Laura Huenneke
Emeritus Professor
Phone: 928-523-2599
Email: Laura.Huenneke@nau.edu
Research interests: Plant ecology and conservation
Deborah Huntzinger
Associate Professor
Office: Building 19 Rm #137
Phone: 928-523-1669
Email: Deborah.Huntzinger@nau.edu
Research interests: Carbon cycling, carbon-climate feedbacks, Earth system modeling
Nancy Johnson
Regents’ Professor
Office: Building 19 Rm #124
Phone: 928-523-6473
Email: Nancy.Johnson@nau.edu
Research interests: Ecosystem ecology, microbial ecology, mycorrhizas
Taylor Joyal
Senior Lecturer
Office: Building 19 Rm #102
Phone: 928-523-1588
Email: Taylor.Joyal@nau.edu
Research interests: Earth surface processes, watershed science, quaternary geology
Darrell Kaufman
Regents’ Professor
Office: Building 12 Rm #219
Phone: 928-523-7192
Email: Darrell.Kaufman@nau.edu
Research interests: Paleoclimatology, Quaternary geology
Nicholas McKay
Associate Professor
Office: Building 12 Rm #217
Phone: 928-523-1918
Email: Nicholas.Mckay@nau.edu
Research interests: Paleoclimatology, data analysis, paleoclimate informatics
Rachel Mitchell
Assistant Professor
Office: Building 20 Rm #102
Email: Rachel.Mitchell@nau.edu
Research interests: Functional ecology, plant ecology
Julie Mueller
Professor
Phone: 928-523-6612
Email: Julie.Mueller@nau.edu
Research interests: Natural resource valuation
Erik Nielsen
Associate Professor
Office: Building 19 Rm #115
Phone: 928-523-4980
Email: Erik.Nielsen@nau.edu
Research interests: Environmental policy
Erika Nowak
Assistant Research Professor
Office: Building 20 Rm #150
Phone: 928-523-7760
Email: Erika.Nowak@nau.edu
Research interests: Herpetology and conservation
Michael Ort
Professor
Office: Building 13 Rm #209
Phone: 928-523-9363
Email: Michael.Ort@nau.edu
Research interests: Volcanology and crustal petrology
Roderic Parnell
Professor
Office: Building 12 Rm #207
Phone: 928-523-3329
Email: Roderic.Parnell@nau.edu
Research interests: Hydrogeochemistry, river restoration
Denielle Perry
Assistant Professor
Office: Building 19 Rm #116
Phone: 928-523-0361
Email: Denielle.Perry@nau.edu
Research interests: Water resources policy and management, geography, political ecology, Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
Ryan Porter
Associate Professor
Office: Building 12 Rm #214
Phone: 928-523-2429
Email: Ryan.Porter@nau.edu
Research interests: Geophysics, seismology, tectonics
Christine Regalla
Assistant Professor
Office: Building 13 Rm #211
Email: Christine.Regalla@nau.edu
Research interests: Structural geology, active tectonics, tectonic geomorphology
Mary Reid
Professor
Office: Building 13 Rm #207
Phone: 928-523-7200
Email: Mary.Reid@nau.edu
Research interests: Geochemistry, petrology
Nancy Riggs
Professor
Office: Building 13 Rm #205
Phone: 928-523-9362
Email: Nancy.Riggs@nau.edu
Research interests: Volcanology, geochronology, tectonics
Cody Routson
Assistant Research Professor
Email: Cody.Routson@nau.edu
Research interests: Climate science
Helen Rowe
Assistant Research Professor
Email: Helen.Rowe@nau.edu
Research interests: Conservation, restoration ecology, invasive species
Robert “Buck” Sanford, Jr.
Professor
Office: Building 19 Rm #122
Phone: 928-523-0068
Email: Robert.Sanford@nau.edu
Research interests: Ecosystem ecology, soil biology, biogeochemistry
Temuulen “Teki” Sankey
Associate Professor
Office: Building 90 Rm #105
Phone: 928-523-7098
Email: Temuulen.Sankey@nau.edu
Research interests: Remote sensing, geoinformatics
Christopher Schwalm
Assistant Research Professor
Email: Christopher.Schwalm@nau.edu
Research interests: Climate and ecosystem science
Donna Shillington
Associate Professor
Office: Building 12 Rm #213
Phone: 928-523-5328
Email: Donna.Shillington@nau.edu
Research interests: Geophysics, seismology, tectonics
Thomas Sisk
Professor
Office: Building 19 Rm #118
Phone: 928-523-7183
Email: Thomas.Sisk@nau.edu
Research interests: Ecology, conservation biology, environmental policy, sustainability
Michael Smith
Associate Professor
Office: Building 13 Rm #212
Phone: 928-523-8965
Email: Michael.E.Smith@nau.edu
Research interests: Geochronology of sedimentary basins, deep time stratigraphy, marine geomorphology
Sara Souther
Assistant Research Professor
Office: Building 56 Rm #130
Phone: 928-523-2644
Email: Sara.Souther@nau.edu
Research interests: Population biology, plant ecology, conservation biology
Abraham Springer
Professor
Office: Building 12 Rm #206
Phone: 928-523-7198
Email: Abe.Springer@nau.edu
Research interests: Hydrogeology, ecohydrology, karst
Diana Stuart
Associate Professor
Office: Building 19 Rm #121
Phone: 928-523-0736
Email: Diana.Stuart@nau.edu
Research interests: Environmental sociology, climate change, food systems, conservation, social theory
Paul Umhoefer
Professor
Office: Building 13 Rm #307
Phone: 928-523-1637
Email: Paul.Umhoefer@nau.edu
Research interests: Tectonics, sedimentary basins, structural geology
Laura Wasylenki
Laura WasylenkiAssociate Professor
Office: Building 36
Email: Laura.Wasylenki@nau.edu
Research interests: Environmental geochemistry of metals, paleoceanography, metal stable isotopes