My research focuses on ecosystem sustainability tempered by biotic interactions; much of my work explores the mechanisms and dynamics of plant-animal interactions in arid environments. Recent work seeks to understand if animal soil engineering and granivory facilitate grassland communities at multiple landscape scales, approached using field manipulative experiments, simulation modeling, and spatial statistics. At Sevilleta LTER, I am conducting preliminary studies to understand interacting effects of fire and harvester ant or kangaroo rat mounds.