The Canyonlands Research Center

Dr. Jayne Belnap has been a research ecologist with the US Department of Interior in Moab, Utah since 1987. She received her PhD from the Botany and Range Department at Brigham Young University (and was the class valedictorian). An expert on how different types of land uses can affect the stability and fertility of ecosystems in dryland regions, Dr. Belnap's expertise on rangeland management is sought from countries around the world.

Dr. Matthew Bowker is a soil, plant and mycorrhizal ecologist largely focused on ecosystem and community ecology of drylands. His research topics vary from biodiversity effects on ecosystem function theory, to species interactions, to restoring biological soil crusts. He is best known for his soil crusts work, having authored 40+ papers on the topic, including several specifically on restoration.

Dr. Mark Brunson is a professor in the Department of Environment and Society at Utah State University. His research focuses on how human behaviors interact with ecological processes and patterns to affect environmental and human conditions. Lately he's been studying how drought is affecting ranching in the Southwest and the factors that affect ranchers' ability to adapt to climate change, as well as restoration decision making in desert and urban environments.

Dr. Mike Duniway, currently acting as interim science director for Canyonlands Research Center, is an ecologist with the US Geological Society in Moab, Utah. Holding a PhD in soil science from New Mexico State University, he’s also worked as a research soil scientist with the USDS-ARS Jornada. His primary interests are in soils and soil processes in arid and semi-arid ecosystems and the interactions between environmental and land-use drivers, vegetation, soils and geomorphology.

Dr. Sasha Reed is a research ecologist with the US Geological Society in Moab, Utah. Her research interests are centered within the fields of biogeochemistry and ecosystem ecology, and her science explores how terrestrial ecosystems work and respond to a host of global changes. Dr. Reed currently has research sites in seven US states as well as in Switzerland, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico.

Dr. Eugene Schupp is a professor at Utah State University in Logan. He is affiliated with the Department of Wildland Resources, Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, and Ecology Center. Dr. Schupp received his PhD from the University of Iowa, and his primary focuses today are on plant recruitment in Mediterranean shrublands, piñon-juniper woodlands and sagebrush steppe communities, as well as on degraded shrublands-grasslands restoration.

Dr. Sheri Spiegal is co-director of the Sustainable Southwest Beef Coordinated Agricultural Project. She studies socioeconomic and environmental impacts of agricultural systems to help producers, consumers and policymakers make well-informed decisions. Currently she’s evaluating tradeoffs of supply chain options from southwestern pastures to dinner plates, as well as opportunities for recycling manure nutrients for fertilizing in lieu of expensive commercial products.

Dr. Kari Veblen is an associate professor in the Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center at Utah State University. She studies grassland, shrubland and savanna rangeland systems in the western US and eastern Africa. Working predominantly on multi-use landscapes managed for wildlife conservation and sustainable livestock production—on the Great Basin, Colorado Plateau and in the Mojave Desert, as well as in Kenya—her research emphases include restoration, livestock-wildlife-plant interactions and grazing ecology.

Dr. Janis L. Boettinger is a professor of soil science (pedology) in the Department of Plants, Soils, and Climate at Utah State University (USU). She represents the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station to the National Cooperative Soil Survey. Her research addresses soil development, soil mapping and soil-landscape-biota relationships. She also serves USU as the senior vice provost for Global Engagement.

The CRC offers an ideal location for studying and demonstrating how climate change is affecting our drylands—and for understanding how those changes are interacting with land use practices. The well-staffed research facility and its network of powerful partnerships attract some of the world’s leading scientists in climate change, biological soil crust, rangeland management, dryland vegetation ecology and soil erosion. Topics being studied long-term here include grassland health, soil restoration, water use optimization and sustainable agriculture promotion, as well as ecosystem vulnerability to climate change, wind erosion and soil restoration. To see the full breadth of research, explore past and current studies.

Tomorrow’s research trailblazers are supported here, too, as the CRC is dedicated to bringing in new talent and ideas to address resource challenges and help train the next generation of scientists. Up to four fellowship grants are awarded each year to support research at the CRC, offering young scientists from an array of universities the opportunity to gain field experience at a critical point in their careers while addressing questions that advance the CRC’s mission.

From hosting classes and field trips, to partnering with outdoor recreationists on best practices via the Indian Creek Climbing Steward Program, to offering local volunteer opportunities, the CRC is connecting people with nature in innovative and exciting ways. In 2023, the CRC also launched an exciting new Artist in Residence program, which encourages the exploration of the CRC’s scientific mission through a creative lens.

One of the CRC’s most important education efforts is the NATURE program—Native American Tribes Upholding Restoration & Education. Co-led by the CRC and Utah State University-Blanding, this immersive, paid, seven-week summer program is designed to support the next generation of Indigenous leaders from the Four Corners Region with skills in natural resource management. Students participate in classroom and field projects, spend time sharing their own culture and knowledge, and interact with some of the leading Indigenous and non-Indigenous scientists and practitioners working in the region. In the past, NATURE students have completed real-world activities and projects focused on climate change science, restoration practices and research on Indigenous foods. This year’s 10 participants are also focusing on critical challenges surrounding rivers in the arid West.

Another key CRC outreach strategy is advancing innovative conservation management practices through demonstration and the sharing of knowledge with partners and communities. For example, the CRC hosts the Colorado Plateau Science and Management Forum, which convenes researchers, resource managers and other interest groups to facilitate better communication, collaboration and knowledge exchange. Federal land managers and other stakeholders set biannual meeting agendas by surveying topics about climate change, ecosystem restoration and wildlife habitat and management.

The lands of the Colorado Plateau have a long tradition of ranching that continues today. In the face of a rapidly warming West, there is a growing need to protect the health of rangelands and ensure the long-term sustainability of ranching communities.

Situated at the gateway to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, the historic Dugout Ranch is one of the most significant biological properties on the Colorado Plateau. In 1997, TNC worked with the Redd family, long-time ranchers, to protect the Dugout’s unique lands and waters through conservation and sustainable rangeland management. 

Today, as the home base for the CRC, the Dugout—and the public lands adjacent to it—offers a unique nexus where scientists, partners and ranchers collaborate to develop and demonstrate adaptive ranch and land management strategies to meet human needs in an ecologically sustainable fashion.

The CRC and iconic Dugout Ranch are especially well positioned to:

• Test partnerships between ranchers and conservation organizations by measuring how these relationships increase livestock production and benefits to others

• Support sustainable intensification of production, using precision ranching and heritage cattle like Criollo, a Spanish breed that may fare better in a warming climate than the European breeds currently dominating the US beef industry

• Identify and mitigate risks to grazing lands and communities across the Colorado and Intermountain West posed by climate change and wind erosion

• Maintain and increase via restoration the many benefits the Colorado Plateau provides to people and nature

The ideas and solutions generated by the CRC and the Dugout can help create new options for ranchers seeking to remain in business, protect their grazing lands into the future and secure the long-term health of this increasingly arid landscape.