WHO WE ARE
Principal Investigator
Dr. Elizabeth La Rue
Liz is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Biological Sciences at UTEP (ealarue@utep.edu). She completed her PhD/postdoc at Purdue University. Broadly the focus of the lab is on the spatial ecology of vegetation structural and ecosystem function relationships in dryland and forest ecosystems. She also works on building educational toolkits for drone and GIS technology transfer for STEM workforce training.
Graduate Students
Karen Stopani
Karen is an EEB PhD student using digital twin technology to investigate plant - biocrust interactions across spatial scales in the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts.
Anna Downing
Anna is an EEB PhD candidate using UAVs and remote sensing to study the structural features of southwest wildlife habitat, including post-wildfire restoration.
Eli Nyawunu
Eli is a Geological Sciences student using remote sensing and geoAI to monitor rangeland plant communities.