Bio

Natalia is a postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State University, where she studies invasive annual grasses in the U.S. sagebrush steppe and the anthropogenic drivers of their spread. She is particularly interested in how natural dryland pulse dynamics (i.e., recurring increases and declines in vegetation over time) interact with land management and shape its long-term effectiveness. Natalia earned her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In her doctoral research, she combined ecology and remote sensing to study land-use change across Eurasian grasslands. She studied cropland abandonment and its potential for grassland biodiversity restoration, as well as the migration of Arctic waterfowl through dryland regions. She also developed new approaches to satellite image analysis for fire mapping and contributed to a global fire-mapping project. Her extensive experience studying Eurasian grasslands led to her current interest in how invasive species and management shape sagebrush-steppe ecosystems in North America.

Natalia is passionate about nature conservation and the use of remote sensing in ecological research. She has worked across ecosystems ranging from tundra to tropical forests, applying satellite data to identify areas of high conservation value, support protected-area planning, monitor wildfires and infrastructure development, and examine land-cover and land-use change.

She is especially interested in dryland ecology and conservation. After many years of research and fieldwork in Eurasian grasslands, Natalia enjoys comparing Eurasian and North American drylands and exploring the ecological challenges they share. Many invasive plants affecting North American drylands originated in Eurasia, while changes now emerging in the United States, such as increasing wildfire activity, have already occurred in Eurasia. Comparing these regions can reveal shared ecological mechanisms and improve predictions of future dryland change. Natalia believes that lessons learned in one region can inform management in another and provide new ideas for the sustainable conservation of dryland ecosystems. Outside of work, Natalia enjoys wildlife and night-sky photography, as well as hiking and driving to explore new places.

Learn About Natalia’s Research Project