Past RISE Symposia

All presentations and posters of the past editions of the RISE Symposia can be downloaded from the official RISE website. 

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On Saturday 20 November 2021, 59 people attended the 17th Annual RISE (Research Insights in Semi-Arid Environments) Symposium. It was a hybrid symposium, with 35 people attending in person in the Marley Building on the University of Arizona campus and 24 people attending remotely through a Zoom Webinar format. It was a joyous occasion because we did not meet last year because of the Covid pandemic. You can find the program at http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/index.htm

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 future research and outreach activities.

This year, 12 speakers (6 in-person and 6 remote) covered a wide variety of topics, and some included results of work completed and on-going at WGEW or SRER. The topics ranged across micro to regional spatial scales, and from seconds to century temporal scales. Abe Karam and Bridget Hass from NEON provided updates dates and Airborne Observation Platform data access advice. Andy Hubbard from the National Park Service and Larry Fisher from Cienega Watershed Partnership provided updates on citizen science and indicators of watershed health. Access and analysis of big data were discussed by Tyson Swetnam and Guillermo Ponce, both from University of Arizona. Marguarite Mauritz from University of Texas El Paso presented long term data on carbon fluxes at the Jornada Experimental Range, and Dave Goodrich from USDA ARS Southwest Watershed Management Research Center described trends in 30-sec to several minutes maximum rain events at WGEW and across the continent. Sheri Spiegal from USDA ARS at the Jornada Experimental Range described ongoing work documenting and assessing the beef supply chain in the western US, and Gary Nabhan from the University of Arizona described work to catalog and protect wild crop relatives in southern Arizona so they can provide future crop resources. In short, there was never a dull moment.

These presentations will be archived at http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/index.htm, where we also provide presentations and poster from the previous 15 symposia.

The highlight was the 1.5-hour poster session where 18 presenters (12 in-person) led a cacophony of discussion in the Marley Building foyer. Through a generous contribution from long-time supporter Mr. Malcolm McGregor, there were monetary awards for the Best Graduate and Undergraduate posters reporting research performed by students working at WGEW or SRER, or using data collected at those facilities. These posters are available for viewing at http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/index.htm

Members of the Tierra Seca Club, which is the student chapter of the Society for Range Management provided coffee, juice, fruit, cheese, and baked goodies for attendees before the talks began at 9 am. The Club will use donations for providing these goodies to help cover travel expenses to the national meeting of the Society for Range Management this February 2022 in Colorado.

Graduate Student Contest Winners

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 Undergraduate Student Contest Winners

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On Saturday 26 October 2019, 56 people attended the 16th Annual RISE (Research Insights in Semi-Arid Environments) Symposium in the Marley Building on the University of Arizona campus.

The objectives of the symposium were 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 future research and outreach activities.   

This year, 10 speakers covered a wide variety of topics, and some included results of work completed and on-going at WGEW or SRER. The topics ranged across micro to regional spatial scales, and from seconds to century temporal scales. Betsy Arnold discuss soil microbial influences on seed germination and success at the micro-scale, while John Humphreys presented regional-scale information about the transmission and outbreak of livestock diseases. Enrique Vivoni described carbon, heat and water exchange rates with measurements per second, Mike Duniway described responses of vegetation to alterations of precipitation regimes at the 3-year scale, and Dave Bertelsen described 36 years of vegetation change along the Mount Kimball trail in the Catalinas Mountains at the weekly scale.  In short, there was never a dull moment.

These presentations and posters are archived at the RISE webpage, where we also provide presentations and poster from the previous 15 symposia.

The highlight was the 1.5-hour poster session where 9 presenters led a cacophony of discussion in the Marley Building foyer. Through a generous contribution from long-time supporter Mr. Malcolm McGregor, there were monetary awards for the Best Graduate and Undergraduate posters reporting research performed by students working at WGEW or SRER, or using data collected at those facilities.
Best Graduate Poster was shared by Blake Steiner (Unravelling Ecosystem Carbon Uptake into it Component Plant Species Contributions) and Justin Johnson (Brush Management of a Whitethorn Acacis-encroached Grassland Enhances Resource Conserving “Shrub Islands). Each received a $400 award.  The Best Undergraduate Poster award of $300 went to Madeline Melichar (Characterizing UAV Flight Practices for Structure From Motion (SFM) Data Collection of Guayule).

Members of the Tierra Seca Club, which is the student chapter of the Society for Range Management provided coffee, juice, fruit, cheese and baked goodies for attendees before the talks began at 9 am. The Club will use donations for providing these goodies to help cover travel expenses to the national meeting of the Society for Range Management this February 2020 in Denver, Colorado.

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On Saturday 20 October 2018, 73 people attended the 15^th Annual RISE (Research Insights in Semi-Arid Environments) Symposium in the Marley Building on the University of Arizona campus.
Program and presentations are available at RISE 2018.

The objectives of the RISE symposia 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 future research and outreach activities.  

This year, 13 speakers covered a wide variety of topics, and some included results of work completed and ongoing at WGEW or SRER. Access to publically-available data, increase in wireless data access at the SRER, CyVerse supported data processing capacity, handling and interpreting big data from remote sensing campaigns, spatial and temporal patterns of precipitation intensity, and expression of deep geologic time in soil and landscape development were covered in the morning session. The afternoon session had more focus on organism behavior and ecology, including soil microbial abundance in relation to soil and soil-water qualities, behavior of aquatic invertebrates as a driving mechanism in the abundance and distribution in southwestern streams, tools and data sets to study phenology patterns, and long-term studies of human and desert plant dynamics on Tumamoc Hill operated by the UA Desert Lab. During their presentations, several speakers solicited collaborators for future work and with publically-accessible data, and most prominent in that behavior was Dr. Heather Throop who is 5 years into a 30 NSF-funded project that manipulates leaf litter inputs in grasslands and mesquite settings, and several attendees are pursuing collaborations with her as a result. 

These presentations and posters are archived at the RISE webpage, where we also provide presentations and posters from the previous 14 symposia.

The highlight was the 1.5-hour poster session where 14 presenters led a cacophony of discussion in the Marley Building foyer. Through a generous contribution from long-time supporter Mr. Malcolm McGregor, there were monetary awards for the Best and Honorable Mention posters reporting research performed by graduate students working at WGEW or SRER, or using data collected at those facilities. 

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Best Graduate Poster and $500 was awarded to Ashton Leo, MS Student with Betsy Arnold in UA CALS School of Plant Sciences with the poster titled Land-use at the Santa Rita Experimental Range Influences the Recruitment of Soil Microbes to Seeds of a Restoration Plant. 

The Honorable Mention Poster and $200 was awarded to Austin Rutherford, PhD student working with Steve Archer in UA CALS School of Natural Resources and the Environment with the poster title A Decision Support Tool for Predicting Risk of Woody Plant Encroachment on Rangelands.

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Members of the Tierra Seca Club, which is the student chapter of the Society for Range Management provided coffee, juice, fruit, cheese and baked goodies for attendees before the talks began at 9 am. The Club will use donations for providing these goodies to help cover travel expenses to the national meeting of the Society for Range Management this January 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On Saturday 21 October 2017, 62 people attended the 14^th Annual RISE (Research Insights in Semi-Arid Environments) Symposium in the Marley Building on the University of Arizona campus. You can find the program at http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/index.htm

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 future research and outreach activities.  

This year, five of the nine invited speakers came from outside Tucson, and provided regional and international themes to the program. Similarly, two of the 17 posters were from authors visiting from Mexico, and one from a Polish visitor.

These presentations and posters will be archived at http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/index.htm, where we also provide presentations and poster from the previous 13 symposia.

The highlight was the 1.5-hour poster session where 17 presenters led a cacophony of discussion in the Marley Building foyer. Through a generous contribution from long-time supporter Mr. Malcolm McGregor, there were monetary awards for the Best and Honorable Mention posters reporting research performed by graduate and undergraduate students working at WGEW or SRER, or using data collected at those facilities.

Best Undergraduate Poster and $300 was awarded to Lilian Engle from the Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering Department, University of Arizona with the poster title “Objects Detection from Drone Images”. The Honorable Mention Poster and $100 was awarded to Erika Ackerman Engle from the Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering Department, University of Arizona with the poster title “Accuracy of SfM Tools for Different Land Surface Compositions”. Both undergraduate winners are mentored by Dr. Kamel Didan from the Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering Department, University of Arizona.

Best Graduate Poster and $500 was awarded to Matt Roby from School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona with the poster title “Controls on Soil Respiration in a Semi-Arid Grassland”. Matt is advised by Dr. Dave Moore from School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona. The Honorable Mention Poster and $300 was awarded to Jeff Gillan from School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona with the title “Estimating Forage Biomass and Utilization in a Desert Grassland with Small Unmanned Aerial System Imagery”. Jeff is advised by Dr. Wim van Leeuwen from School of Natural Resources and the Environment.

Members of the Tierra Seca Club, which is the student chapter of the Society for Range Management provided coffee, juice, fruit, cheese, and baked goodies for attendees before the talks began at 9 am. The Club will use donations for these goodies to help cover travel expenses to the national meeting of the Society for Range Management this January 2017 in Sparks, Nevada.

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On Saturday 08 October 2016, 60 people attended the 13^th Annual RISE (Research Insights in Semi-Arid Environments) Symposium in the Marley Building on the University of Arizona (UA) campus (http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/index.htm). 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 future research and outreach activities.  A recent UA News story https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/rise-symposium-highlight-range-research described the legacy of student engagement and research collaborations that have emerged from the previous 12 symposia.

This year, the topics covered by the nine invited speakers included the

1. National Ecological Observatory Network,
2. Toolbox and management practices to control buffelgrass at Saguaro National Park,
3. Arthropod distribution, diversity and genetic variation in the local Sky Islands mountain ranges,
4. Patterns and implications of rain storm intensity and duration over the past 60 years,
5. Soil erosion and deposition rates using radio-isotope tracers,
6. Spatial and temporal scaling of Net Ecosystem Exchange of carbon across southwestern North America,
7. Preliminary results of herbaceous diversity responses to mesquite control,
8. On-going efforts that merge lidar, structure for motion imagery, and multi-spectral data to represent spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation, and
9. A reflection on the history of the Santa Rita history as a benchmark for appreciating ongoing and future activities.

These presentations and posters will be archived at http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/index.htm, where we also provide presentations and poster from the previous 12 symposia.

The highlight was the two-hour poster session where 9 presenters led a cacophony of discussion in the Marley Building foyer. Through a generous contribution from long-time supporter Mr. Malcolm McGregor, there were monetary awards for the Best and Honorable Mention posters reporting research performed by graduate students working at WGEW or SRER, or using data collected at those facilities. Best Poster and $500 was awarded to Sam Abercrombie from UA School of Natural Resources and the Environment (SNRE) with the title “Small Mammalian Herbivores Decrease Herbaceous Plant Cover in Shrub Invaded Grassland”; and the Honorable Mention awards of $200 each went to Mark Kautz from UA SNRE with the title “Parameterization of the Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model (RHEM) using dynamic Landsat-based foliar cover estimates”.

Members of the Tierra Seca Club, which is the student chapter of the Society for Range Management provided coffee, juice, fruit and baked goodies for attendees before the talks began at 9 am. The Club will use donations for these goodies to help cover travel expenses to the national meeting of the Society for Range Management this January 2016 in St George, Utah.

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On Saturday 17 October 2015, over 60 people attended the 12^th Annual RISE (Research Insights in Semi-Arid Environments) Symposium in the Marley Building on the University of Arizona (UA) campus (http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/index.htm). 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 future research and outreach activities. Attendees came from far and wide, including UA alum Raul Romo and four others from the University of Sonora as well as folks from Colorado, New Mexico, and China. 

Eleven invited speakers covered topics ranging from the National Ecological Observatory Network, the new USDA-ARS Long-term Agricultural Research Program, potential new NSF Long-term Ecological Research site in semi-arid region, new far-remote sensing of soil moisture from satellites and near-remote sensing of plant productivity with drones, reconstruction of seasonal precipitation patterns using tree rings, deep soil moisture use by creosote, big data processing to detect management influences on vegetation productivity, the history of field research and researchers in the southwest, and Petey Mesquiety’s songs and poems about the plants, animals and granddaughters in the southeastern Arizona.

The highlight was the two-hour poster session where 15 presenters led a cacophony of discussion in the Marley Building foyer. Through a generous contribution from long-time supporter Mr. Malcolm McGregor, there were monetary awards for the Best and Honorable Mention posters reporting research performed by graduate students working at WGEW or SRER, or using data collected at those facilities. Best Poster and $500 was awarded to Mallory Barnes from UA School of Natural Resources and the Environment (SNRE) with the title “Consideration of sub-annual climate conditions improves understanding of vegetation response to drought in the Southwest”; and two Honorable Mention awards of $200 each were awarded Mark Kautz from UA SNRE with the title “Development of long-term, Landsat-based canopy cover record for a semiarid grassland in southeastern Arizona” and Cheryl McIntyre from UA SNRE with the title “Do biocrusts differentially influence non-native and native grass establishment?”.

Members of the Tierra Seca Club, which is the student chapter of the Society for Range Management provided coffee, juice, fruit and baked goodies for attendees before the talks began at 9 am. They also raffled honey from the SRER that was donated by the USDA ARS Bee Lab. The Club will use donations for these goodies to help cover travel expenses to the national meeting of the Society for Range Management this February 2016 in Corpus Christi, Texas.

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On Saturday 18 October 2014, over 70 people attended the 11^th Annual RISE (Research Insights in Semi-Arid Environments) Symposium in the Marley Building on the University of Arizona (UA) campus (http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/index.htm). Ten invited speakers covered topics ranging from the National Ecological Observatory Network, new and planned research with bees and mesquite removal, net ecosystem productivity in savanna and grasslands, modeling soil erosion after wildfires, coupled human and natural riparian systems across the Arizona-Sonora border, deconstructing drought signals with daily weather patterns, inter-species comparison of drought response by plants, vegetation responses to prolonged precipitation deficit and surplus, and responses of insects, small mammals, birds, and tortoises to increasing abundances of non-native grasses and fire. The highlight was the two-hour poster session where 17 presenters led a cacophony of discussion in the Marley Building foyer. The objectives of the symposium are to share recent results of scientific research in semiarid environments, with an emphasis on that conducted at the USDA-ARS Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW) and the University of Arizona Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER), and to encourage future research and outreach activities. Attendees came from far and wide, including SNRE alum Raul Romo and three others from the University of Sonora as well as folks from Colorado, New Mexico, and Flagstaff AZ. 

Through a generous contribution from long-time supporter Mr. Malcolm McGregor, there were monetary awards for the Best and Honorable Mention posters reporting research performed by undergraduate and graduate students working at WGEW or SRER, or using data collected at those facilities. Among the graduate student contestants, Best Poster and $500 was awarded to Daphne Szutu from UA School of Natural Resources and the Environment with the title “Using a two-layer soil moisture conceptual framework to understand transpiration dynamics in a semiarid shrubland”; and Honorable Mention and $200 was awarded Gayle Frost from UA School of Natural Resources and the Environment with the title “Feedbacks between plant biomass and soil microbial activity in a field-based experimental warming treatment”. For undergraduate students, Best Poster and $300 was awarded to Natasha Krell from University of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, ME with the title “Dynamic pulse-driven flowering phenology in a semiarid shrubland”; and Honorable Mention and $100 was awarded Rachel Wehr from UA School of Natural Resources and the Environment with the title “Interannual variability of soil moisture dynamics in a semiarid shrubland with bimodal precipitation patterns”.  All of these winning posters came from students working with Shirley Papuga, Associate Professor in the UA School of Natural Resources and the Environment.

Members of the Tierra Seca Club, which is the student chapter of the Society for Range Management provide coffee, juice, fruit and baked goodies for attendees before the talks began at 9 am. The Club will use donations for these goodies to help cover travel expenses to the national meeting of the Society for Range Management this February 2015 in Sacramento, CA.

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On Saturday 12 October 2013, over 70 people attended the 10^th Annual RISE (Research Insights in Semi-Arid Environments) Symposium in the Marley Building on the University of Arizona (UA) campus (http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/index.htm).  Seven invited speakers covered topics ranging from the National Phenology Network, Dynamic Process Networks, Jaguars in SE Arizona, the North American Monsoon Macrosystem, Soil Moisture Constraints on Revegetation Success, and poignant humor about living in rural southern Arizona from Petey Mesquitey.  Two videos celebrating the 60^th Anniversary of the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed were viewed in lieu of presentations from USDA scientists who were unavailable due to the recent shortfall of federal funding. The highlight was the two-hour poster session where 27 presenters led a cacophony of discussion in the Marley Building foyer. The objectives of the symposium are to share recent results of scientific research in semiarid environments, with an emphasis on that conducted at the USDA-ARS Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW) and the University of Arizona Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER), and to encourage future research and outreach activities.

Through a generous contribution from long-time supporter Mr. Malcolm McGregor, there were monetary awards for the Best and Honorable Mention posters reporting research performed by undergraduate and graduate students working at WGEW or SRER, or using data collected at those facilities. Among the 11 graduate student contestants, Best Poster and $500 was awarded to Eva Levi from UA School of Natural Resources and the Environment with the title “Soil deposition and UV radiation influence litter decomposition in a shrub-invaded dryland ecosystem”; and Honorable Mention and $200 was awarded to Matthew Nielsen from UA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with the title “Interactions between behavioral thermoregulation and color change in pipevine swallowtail caterpillars (Battus philenor)”. For undergraduate students, Best Poster and $300 was awarded to Amy Kwiecien from University of California, Riverside with the title “Mesquite and Cactus Abundance on a Grazed and Protected Sonoran Desert Grassland Site”; and Honorable Mention and $100 was awarded to John Hottenstein from UA Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering with the title “Complex Response of Grassland Soil Moisture to Extreme Precipitation Patterns”. 

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On Saturday 13 October 2012, sixty people attended to 9^th Annual RISE (Research Insights in Semi-Arid Environments) Symposium in the Marley Building on the University of Arizona campus (http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/rise/index.htm).  Ten invited speakers covered topics ranging from hummingbirds and buffelgrass to water-use efficiency (WUE) and landscape evolution observation (LEO) in the Biosphere 2. The highlight was the two-hour poster session where 18 poster presenters led a cacophony of discussion in the Marley foyer. The objectives of the symposium are to share recent results of scientific research at the USDA-ARS Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW) and the University of Arizona Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER), to encourage future research and outreach activities.

Through a generous contribution from long-time supporter Mr. Malcolm McGregor, this is the inaugural year of the student poster contest where Best and Honorable Mention posters are awarded cash prizes for reporting research performed by undergraduate and graduate students working at WGEW or SRER, or using data collected at those facilities.  SNRE (School of Natural Resources and the Environment) students captured all four awards.  Graduate student winners were Zulia Mayari Sanchez Mejia (Best) and Amber Dalke (Honorable Mention). Undergraduate student winners were Kelsey Hawkes (Best) and Evan Kipnis (Honorable Mention).

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