معرفی
Rebecca Best is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Sustainability at Northern Arizona University, part of the College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences. Her research focuses on ecological dynamics, particularly in riparian and aquatic systems, with an emphasis on species interactions, ecosystem functioning, and responses to environmental change.
Her research interests include ecosystem function, species diversity, trait plasticity, climate-driven selection, trophic cascades, and post-wildfire forest regeneration. She integrates field ecology, genetics, and ecosystem monitoring to understand how organisms and communities adapt to stressors such as climate change and disturbance.
Recent publications highlight trends in climate adaptation of foundation tree species, the role of gross primary productivity in freshwater fish growth, and the impacts of forest management after high-severity wildfires. Her work employs hyperspectral imaging, experimental manipulations, and long-term ecological datasets to advance restoration and conservation planning.
- Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University
- Active researcher in ecological and evolutionary responses to environmental change
- Contributor to interdisciplinary studies on climate adaptation, trophic interactions, and ecosystem resilience
She has contributed to numerous scholarly works and datasets, collaborating with researchers on projects involving consumer guilds, hybridization, and functional trait divergence. Her datasets are publicly archived in repositories such as Dryad and Zenodo, supporting open science and reproducibility.
