On Saturday 09 November 2024, sixty-five people attended the 20th Annual RISE (Research Insights in Semi-Arid Ecosystems) Symposium. You can find the program and links to the pdf version of the talks and posters presented at https://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/v2/index.html
The objectives of the symposium are to share recent results of scientific research in semiarid environments, with an emphasis on work conducted at the USDA-ARS Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW) and the University of Arizona Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER), and to encourage collaboration among researchers and students on future research and outreach activities.
The 20th Anniversary included a transition to a new venue and very generous donations totaling $1695 to the student poster contest awards. The Integrated Learning Center room 150 was more spacious and warmer than room 230 Marley Building, and the covered outdoor setting for the poster session was greatly appreciated during the 70 F temperatures. As a result of the generous donations, we increased the awards to undergraduates: from $300 to $500 for Best, and from $100 to $300 for Honorable mention; and for graduate students, we increased the Honorable mention from $200 to $300. These changes make the award amounts the same for undergraduate and graduate students.
Eleven speakers covered a wide variety of topics, and some included results of work completed and on-going at WGEW or SRER. Mitch McClaran started the program with a reflection on how a community of researchers, students, and enthusiasts evolved and how their impact grew since 2004. These impacts included 1) opportunities for students to present their first poster in a supportive environment, 2) new faculty were invited speakers and that built connections with others, 3) many collaborations led to successes in securing research funding and publications, as well as students gaining entrance to graduate programs, and 4) a small group was successful in persuading NEON to resume annual fights of the Airborne Observatory Platform instead of the recent change to 3 of 5 year frequency.
The other talks included updates from the Santa Rita (Brett Blum) and NEON (Abe Karam) that focused on opportunities for researchers to contribute to the design of the expected thinning of mesquite by the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fuel Management, and access to new NEON data and new data tools. Dawn Browning from the Jornada Experimental Range in Las Cruces, NM presented recent work combining drone, flux tower, and web cam data to record the interannual dynamics of vegetation that provides a more quantitative and nuanced understanding of ecological states. Julia Guglielmo from the Altar Valley Conservation Alliance west of Tucson reviewed the many accomplishments in data collection and erosion control since 1995 and ongoing opportunities to contribute to research projects.
Michelle Berry, UA Department of History, author of the recently published book “Cow Talk”, and current year recipient of the UA Outstanding Scholar Award helped us recognize the power of words in building and distinguishing a culture as well as introducing us to the “morethanhuman” effects on landscape change, which we commonly refer to as the bio-physical drivers of change. Ashlee Rowe, School of Biology at University of Oklahoma presented a remotely delivered yet thoroughly engrossing journey using videos and molecular animations of the natural history and neural biochemistry of the grasshopper mouse’s ability to block the venom-related pain from their scorpion prey (species she studied and collected on the Santa Rita).
Elise Gornish, new Director of the UA Desert Laboratory (and past recipient of the UA Outstanding Scholar Award) encouraged the group to visit the Lab during the many talks and activities, and to use the >100 year long-term data of change in plant density, cover, and longevity. Sarah Noelle, Southern Arizona Experiment Station presented thorough and very well-organized review of the 122 years of livestock grazing research and practice on the Santa Rita Experimental Range and opportunities to access and use the long-term data for new research projects.
Peter Breslin, UA Arizona Institute for Resilience led us through a review of saguaro natural history that transitioned to a detailed look at the population dynamics on Tumamoc Hill, Tucson that revealed a decline in recruitment in the last decade and the negative impact of buffelgrass on that recruitment. Laura Norman concluded the talks with a sweeping survey of 25 locations in the southwestern US where the establishment of Natural Infrastructure in Dryland Streams (NIDS) has slowed the flow and increased infiltration of ephemeral rain water to the benefit of surrounding vegetation and groundwater levels.
The highlight of the Symposium was the 1.5-hour poster session where 14 presenters led a cacophony of discussions in the covered courtyard at the Integrated Learning Center. As usual, the session was full of animated and exploratory discussions about the general message and detailed pieces of each poster. This was a new venue, but the level of interaction remained high and maybe greater than any previous year. Of course, the fine Mediterranean-themed lunch provided by UA catering fueled the poster session.
Arizona State University faculty Elizabeth Trembath-Reighert (left) and graduate student Allelua Niyokwizera (right) explaining their posters to serious observers during the RISE 2024 Poster Session.
Andrew Fullhart and Shang Gao explaining details of their poster to focused observers.
Members of the Tierra Seca Club (https://www.uaztierraseca.org/), which is the student chapter of the Society for Range Management once again provided coffee, juice, fruit, cheese and baked goods for attendees before the talks began at 9 am. The Club will use the donations for providing these goodies to help cover travel expenses to the national meeting of the Society for Range Management this February 2025 in Spokane, WA.
This was the second year that we did not charge a registration fee, and instead relied on donations to support the student poster awards. This year we had a glorious outpouring of donations totaling $1695 between July 01st and November 10th. This amount allowed us to increase the poster awards for Best and Honorable Mention for undergraduates to $500 and $300 respectively (from $300 and $100), and the Honorable Mention for graduate students to $300 from $200. These changes made the awards the same for both undergraduate and graduate students. If this moves you, maybe you want to use the QR available below to send a donation that we can apply to the awards next year.
Recipients of the poster awards after the Symposium. From left to right: Solomon Edo, Xiuchen Lu, Doan Goolsby, and Margaret Mercer.
Graduate Student Contest Winners and Photos with Posters
Best poster at $500, Solomon Edo (Department of Biosystems Engineering, UA) for the poster titled Impacts of Plant Evapotranspiration and Water Use on Conservation Efforts in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region.
Honorable Mention poster at $300, Margaret Mercer (School of Natural Resources and the Environment, UA) for the poster titled Avoidance of Humans Leads to Temporal Mismatch Between Predators and Prey.
Undergraduate Student Contest Winners Photo with Poster
Best poster at $500, Xiuchen Lu (School of Natural Resources and the Environment, UA) Refining PRISM Precipitation Data Through Local Station Integration for Improved Regional Accuracy
Honorable Mention poster at $300 Doan Goolsby (School of Natural Resources and the Environment, UA) for the poster titled Predicting Perils: Unraveling Buffelgrass and Stinknet Invasions on the Santa Rita Experimental Range using Random Forest Models.
