2024 Biota Awards Advisory Committee
Elizabeth Bach
Elizabeth is the Ecosystem Restoration Scientist with The Nature Conservancy at Nachusa Grasslands in Illinois where she works with scientists, land managers, and volunteer stewards to investigate questions about tallgrass prairie restoration ecology. Her own research expertise focuses on soil ecology, exploring how belowground biology supports tallgrass prairie ecosystems through plant-soil interactions and nutrient and carbon cycling. Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, Elizabeth served as the executive director for the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative and continues to contribute to global science-policy work.
Peter Crane, FRS
Peter is the president of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Virginia, an estate of Rachel Lambert Mellon that includes an exquisite garden as well as an exceptional library focused on the history of plant exploration and the development of gardens and landscape design. He is known internationally for his work on the diversity of plant life, he was at the Field Museum in Chicago from 1982 to 1999. From 1999 to 2006, Peter was director of The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He returned to Chicago as a professor at the University of Chicago before being recruited in 2009 as Dean of the Yale School of the Environment. He was knighted in the U.K. for services to horticulture and conservation in 2004. Peter is a member of several national science academies and the recipient of honorary degrees from universities in the U.K. and the United States, including honorary doctorates from the University of Connecticut, Sewanee: The University of the South in the United States, and Cambridge University in the U.K. He received the International Prize for Biology in 2014.
Alexandra Harmon-Threatt
Harmon-Threatt is a pollination ecologist with broad interest in understanding the patterns and processes that govern plant-pollinator interactions for conservation. Pollinators play a vital role in plant reproduction, food production and ecosystem stability but are believed to be declining globally. Her work focuses on identifying and understanding patterns in natural environments to help conserve and restore pollinator diversity. With a particular focus on bees, she investigates how a number of factors at both the local and landscape scale, including plant diversity, isolation and bee characteristics, affect bee diversity in local communities.
Zhao Ma
Zhao is a professor of Natural Resource Social Science in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University. Her research lies at the intersection of political ecology and social psychology and examines the natural resource decision-making of two types of actors, individuals and organizations. Zhao’s research spans a wide range of environmental and natural resource topics, and more recently, she has focused on invasive plant management, payment for ecosystem services, climate change perception and adaptation, water governance, and ecological restoration in the United States, Bolivia, Peru, and Pakistan. Zhao has published over 75 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in a wide range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary journals and outlets. Currently, Zhao serves as a board member of the Human Dimensions of Global Change Specialty Group for the American Association of Geographers. She is also an Associate Editor for three journals: Small-Scale Forestry, Society and Natural Resources, and Environmental Management.
Jennifer Moore
Jennifer is an Associate Professor of Biology at Grand Valley State University. Her research focuses on landscape ecology, population demography, and conservation genetics of at-risk species. Jennifer’s research goal is to understand the factors that impact movement, functional connectivity, and population viability by focusing on questions that can be applied directly to conservation and management. Born and raised in Michigan, USA, Jennifer’s graduate studies and research have addressed conservation questions across the globe, from New Zealand to Alaska to the Galapagos. She currently serves as an associate editor for two journals and is an active board member for a number of threatened and endangered species task forces.
Matthew McCary
Matthew studies the relationship between soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning within the context of global change. He received his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 2016, where he studied the impacts of invasive plants on forest soil communities. He then investigated how variation in soil resources can alter ecosystem dynamics as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University. His multidisciplinary research program includes observational and experimental studies, mathematical and statistical modeling, and molecular techniques. Matthew is currently an assistant professor in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Program in the BioSciences Department at Rice University.
Melinda Pruett-Jones
Melinda retired from the American Ornithological Society in 2021 after leading two of the oldest and most influential professional societies devoted to the scientific research and conservation of birds through a successful merger. An ornithologist by training, Melinda served mission-based organizations committed to conservation action, formal and informal science education, and research excellence throughout her career. She is recognized for her achievements in leading organizations through periods of substantial growth and change, engaging diverse constituents in change processes, and catalyzing professional partnerships and collaboration at multiple scales. Previously she served as Executive Director of Chicago Wilderness and held leadership positions at Chicago Zoological Society/Brookfield Zoo, The Field Museum, and the University of California’s Natural Reserve System. She continues to serve on regional and national committees and boards.
Brian Roth
Brian is an Associate Professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University. His research relies heavily on combined field and modeling approaches to evaluate food web interactions between native and invasive species. In particular, he focuses on two study systems: Invasive crayfish in inland waters and predatory fishes in the Great Lakes. He is a member of the Partnership in Ecological Research and Management with the Michigan DNR and works synergistically with management agencies to ensure his research can be directly applied to management priorities and goals. He also enjoys teaching Ichthyology and Advanced Fish Ecology courses at MSU.
Greg Spyreas
Greg is a plant ecologist and botanist with the Illinois Natural History Survey. He has previously worked for county forest preserves, environmental consulting firms, and the Nature Conservancy. The main goal of his research is to apply ecological knowledge and techniques to bring about better conservation, restoration, management, monitoring, and understanding of natural areas and their floras/faunas. Frequent study topics include restoration, non-native plants, measures of habitat quality, and fire ecology. Though he occasionally works internationally or in pristine wilderness areas, Greg’s research most often looks at habitats in human-dominated landscapes, especially those of midwestern North America. Born and raised in Chicago, he holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies, an M.SS in Botany, and a Ph.D. in Plant Ecology.