Sarah Evans
Sarah is currently completing a PhD in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. She works with Indy at University of Wyoming and Matt Wallenstein at CSU.
Her research focuses on how global change will alter soil biogeochemical and microbial processes. She currently works at the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research Station where she examines how C and N cycling and microbial dynamics are altered by long-term drought and how this might affect ecosystem function.
Sarah is originally from Alabama. She completed her undergraduate degree at Grinnell College in Iowa and spent time working in in Namibia, Africa and Washington, DC before coming to Colorado State.
Curriculum Vitae
Sarah E. Evans
Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory ▪ Colorado State University ▪ Fort Collins, CO 80523
Sarah.evans@colostate.edu ▪ (256)337-2482 ▪ http://warnercnr.colostate.edu/~sarahe/index.htm
PhD in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology August 2007-present
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Advisors: Matthew Wallenstein and Ingrid Burke (University of Wyoming)
Emphasis: the effect of changes in rainfall on ecosystem biogeochemistry and soil microbial communities
BA, Biology August 2001 – May 2005
Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa
Semester abroad: Costa Rica and Nicaragua, Organization for Tropical Studies
Honors thesis: Population genetics and ecology of the mushroom Morchella esculenta (morel)
GRANTS, AWARDS, AND FELLOWSHIPS
· Argonne Soils Metagenomics Workshop Travel Grant, 2011 ($500)
· Editor’s Choice for 2011 publication in Journal of Ecology Issue 6, October, 2011
· Best Student Presentation in the Biogeosciences Section at ESA, 2011: Does long-term drought alter the response of soil microbial communities to moisture? ($500)
· National Science Foundation (NSF) Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Does long-term drought alter the response of microbial communities to moisture? 2011 ($14,742)
· American Geophysical Union (AGU) Travel Award to attend annual meeting, 2010 ($500)
· Argonne Soils Workshop Travel Grant to attend workshop at Argonne National Lab, 2010 ($500)
· Graduate Degree Program in Ecology (CSU) Travel Grant to attend and present at the International Symposium for Microbial Ecology (2010, $490) and Ecological Soc. of America Meeting (2011, $450)
· NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2009-2012 ($90,000 over three years)
· Francis Clark Soil Biology Scholarship of the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, 2009 ($4,000)
· Colorado State University Fellowship to present at the 2009 International Conference on Soil Organic Carbon ($500)
· NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program, Honorable Mention 2008: “The role of carbon and nitrogen linkages in grassland recovery from 9 years of drought”
· NSF East Asia & Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) grant for summer research in China, 2008 ($5,000)
· Recruitment award from Colorado State Univ. Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, 2007 ($2,000)
· Elsie Stoffer Award for biological study abroad in Costa Rica, 2004 ($1,000)
· Grinnell College Environmental Studies Internship Grant, 2003 ($2,000)
· Grinnell College Trustee Merit-based scholarship, 2001 ($20,000 over 4 years)
East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute Grant (China) June 2008- August 2008
Collaborative research with the lab of Dr. Zhou Guangsheng, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany
Undergraduate Research June 2004 – Dec 2004
Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa
Research project: “Intrapopulational genetic variation in the Morchella esculenta”
Advisor: Kathryn C. Jacobson
Techniques: PCR, gel electrophoresis, and RAPD community profiling data analysis
Summer research internship June – August 2003
Juneau Icefield Research Program, Juneau, Alaska / Atlin, British Colombia, Canada
Project: Mass balance of Juneau Icefield: 2003 data compared to a 20-year synthesis
Independent research during semester abroad January – June 2004
Organization for Tropical Studies, Costa Rica and Nicaragua
Projects: “Macroinvertebrates as an indicator of water quality at Palo Verde marsh” and “Plasticity of reproductive structures in tropical ferns”
Undergraduate mentor 2008-2011
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Mentored 4 undergraduates on independent projects on soil biogeochemistry. Field and laboratory methods taught: trace gas flux monitoring, gas chromatography analysis, and plant tissue analysis
Teaching Assistant 2007-2008
Colorado State University College of Natural Resources, Fort Collins, CO
Class: Environmental Conservation, a course for freshmen interested in pursuing degrees in environmental sciences and environmental studies.
Science Policy and Education Intern January – June 2006
Agronomy, Soil, and Crop Science Societies Policy Office, Washington, DC
Organized meetings with scientists to discuss research and funding priorities, and coordinated educational briefings to Congressional staff.
Training and Outreach Grinnell Corps Fellow June 2005 – July 2006
Gobabeb Training and Research Centre, Namib Desert, Namibia, Africa
Coordinated primary, secondary, tertiary-level courses on arid ecology, desertification, renewable energy, and land and water management.
Undergraduate Class Mentor January – June 2005
Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa
Class: Introductory to Biological Inquiry (Ecological Genetics). Aided the professor in labs and lecture sessions and conducted weekly mentor sessions for students.
Evans, SE and MD Wallenstein. 2011. Soil microbial community response to drying and rewetting stress: does historical precipitation regime matter? Biogeochemistry. doi: 10.1007/s10533-011-9638-3
Conant, RT, MG Ryan, GI Ågren, HE Birge, EA Davidson, PE Eliasson, SE Evans, SD Frey, CP Giardina, F Hopkins, R Hyvönen, MUF Kirschbaum, JM Lavallee, J Leifeld, WJ Parton, JM Steinweg, MD Wallenstein, JÅ Martin Wetterstedt, and MA Bradford. 2011. Temperature and soil organic matter decomposition rates – synthesis of current knowledge and a way forward. Global Change Biology, Early View August 2, 2011. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02496.x
Evans, SE , KM Byrne, IC Burke and WK Lauenroth. 2011. Defining the limit to resistance in a drought tolerant grassland: long-term severe drought significantly reduces the dominant species and increases ruderals. Journal of Ecology. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01864.x. *Received Issue 6 (October 2011) Editor’s Choice Award
Evans, SE, IC Burke, WK Lauenroth. 2011. Controls on soil organic carbon and nitrogen in Inner Mongolia, China: a cross-continental comparison of temperate grasslands. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 25: GB3006, doi:10.1029/2010GB003945
Evans, SE, MD Wallenstein. 2011. Does long-term drought alter the response of soil microbial communities to moisture? Argonne Soil Metagenomics Workshop. Bloomingdale, IL (oral presentation)
Evans, SE, MD Wallenstein. 2011. Does long-term drought alter the response of soil microbial communities to moisture? Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Austin, TX (oral presentation). *Received the Biogeosciences Section Best Student Presentation Award at ESA.
Wallenstein, MD, SE Evans, and JM Steinweg. 2011. The surprising role of extracellular enzymes in microbial response to moisture pulses. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Austin, TX (invited symposium).
Evans, SE, IC Burke, WK Lauenroth. 2010. Controls on soil organic carbon and nitrogen in Inner Mongolia, China: a cross-continental comparison of temperate grasslands. American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (oral presentation).
Evans, SE, IC Burke, WK Lauenroth. 2010. Controls on soil organic carbon and nitrogen in Inner Mongolia, China: a cross-continental comparison of temperate grasslands. American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (presentation).
Evans, SE and MD Wallenstein. 2010. Soil microbial response to drying-rewetting stress: Do microorganisms adapt to altered rainfall timing? International Symposium for Microbial Ecology, Seattle, WA (poster).
Wallenstein, MD. Evans, SE. 2010. Microbial adaptations to environmental change: a moving target for global change ecology. Ecological Society of America annual meeting, Pittsburgh, PA. (invited, symposium)
Evans, SE and MD Wallenstein. 2010. Soil microbial response to drying-rewetting stress: Do microorganisms adapt to altered rainfall timing? Front Range Student Ecology Symposium, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO. (presentation)
Evans, SE, IC Burke, WK Lauenroth, JC von Fischer. 2009. The effect of long-term drought on C and N linkages in the shortgrass steppe. Ecological Society of America annual meeting, Albuquerque, NM (poster)
Burke, IC, WK Lauenroth, E Bontti, SE Evans. 2009. Coupled biogeochemical cycles in grasslands: a long-term perspective. Ecological Society of America Annual meeting, special workshop on Coupled Biogeochemical cycles (invited, symposium)
Evans, SE, IC Burke, WK Lauenroth, GS Zhou. 2009. The response of soil organic carbon to land use and precipitation in grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China. International Conference on Soil Organic Matter, Colorado Springs, CO (presentation)
Evans, SE and IC Burke. 2008. The effect of altered precipitation regimes on carbon-nitrogen linkages in the shortgrass steppe. Front Range Student Ecology Symposium, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (presentation)
Evans, SE. 2006. Ethics and Protocols of Social and Environmental Research in Southern Africa, Winter Term course, “Protocols in International Research” University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (presentation)
Evans, SE and KM Jacobson. 2005. Intrapopulational genetic variation in the Morchella esculenta. Iowa Academy of Sciences Meeting, Des Moines, IA (poster)
Evans, SE. 2004. Snow mass balance on the Juneau Icefield: climatic implications from long-term data. Juneau Icefield Research Program annual summer research symposium. Atlin, British Colombia, Canada (presentation)
· Reviewer, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Global Change Biology, Plant and Soil, Biogeochemistry
· Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory Graduate Student Representative, 2010-2011
· Volunteer, Colorado State University GetWET Program. This program leads field trips for middle and high school students on hydrology, water management, and aquatic ecology in Fort Collins
· Symposium Organizer, Front Range Student Ecology Symposium, 2008-2010 (Secretary, 2009)
