View Earth Science directory

Faculty Member

Dr. Tara Bishop

Biography

I am a dryland community and ecosystem ecologist asking questions about climate change (drought and precipitation changes), wildfire, and plant-soil feedbacks. Mostly from the plant perspective, how are interactions in the environment from trophic cascades, to changes in soil nutrient availability and disturbance regime shifts, altering our dryland plant communities. Most of my work centers in drylands of the western United States including the Mojave Desert, Great Basin, Sonoran and the Colorado Plateau. I utilize experimental studies, observational studies, in addition to remote sensing, modeling, and drone image analysis with GIS to answer my research questions.

I also enjoy integrating community based science and communication with natural resource managers to help bridge gaps and breakdown silos of information to better manage our landscapes based on ecological foundations. I work with multi-agency collaborative groups and value outreach workshops as a way to build relationships and help root my science with decision makers.

Education

PhD, Brigham Young University, 2019

Major: Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation

MS, Mississippi State University, 2012

Major: Biology

BS, Brigham Young University, 2008

Major: Biology Composite Teaching

Teaching

ENVT 3850

Environmental Policy, Fall 2025

ENVT 1110

Introduction to Environmental Management, Fall 2025

ENVT 1110

Introduction to Environmental Management, Fall 2025

ENVT 3770

Natural Resources Management, Fall 2025

ENVT 4950R

Special Projects in Environmental Management, Fall 2025

ENVT 4950R

Special Projects in Environmental Management, Fall 2025

GEOG 4890R

Student Research in Geography, Fall 2025

GEO 480R

Earth Science Seminar, Spring 2025

ENVT 2710

Environmental Careers, Spring 2025

ENVT 1270

Environmental Microbiology, Spring 2025

ENVT 495R

Special Projects in Environmental Management, Spring 2025

ENVT 495R

Special Projects in Environmental Management, Spring 2025

ENVT 495R

Special Projects in Environmental Management, Spring 2025

BOT 489R

Student Research, Spring 2025

Presentations

Bishop, Tara , 17th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region, "Hoofprints in Time_ Seasonal Grazing Timing and Biocrust Cover in Drought-Stressed Rangelands", Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ. (September 9, 2025)
Bishop, Tara , 17th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region, "State-and-Transition models and Ecological Site Groups for PJ fire and fuel management", Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ. (September 9, 2025)
Bishop, Tara , Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, "Exploring Careers in Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs)", Ecological Society of America, Baltimore, MD. (August, 2025)
Olson, Aljexi (Presenter & Author), Bishop, Tara (Author Only), Lukacs, Hali (Co-Author), Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, "This Old Juniper_ Ages and Stages for Juniper Tree Communities", Ecological Society of America, Baltimore, MD. (August 14, 2025)
Lukacs, Hali (Presenter & Author), Bishop, Tara (Author Only), Fowles, Christine (Co-Author), St. Clair, Samuel (Co-Author), Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, "How fire and rodent activity impact water use efficiency on creosote (Larrea tridentata)", Ecological Society of America, Baltimore, MD. (August 13, 2025)
Fowles, Christine (Presenter & Author), Bishop, Tara (Author Only), Lukacs, Hali (Author Only), St. Clair, Samuel (Co-Author), Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, "The effects of fire and dryland rodent community interactions on the number and viability of creosote (Larrea tridentata) seed", Ecological Society of America, Baltimore, MD. (August 13, 2025)

Scholarly/Creative Works

Severson, John P., Bishop, Tara BB, Knight, Anna C., Nauman, Travis W, McNellis, Brandon E, Villareal, Miguel L, Reed, Sasha C, Young, Kristina E, Brunson, Mark , Duniway, Michael C., (2025) "Mapping ecological states in the upper Colorado River basin_ implications for fire management" . Landscape Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664X/adf55f
Young, Kristina E, Bishop, Tara BB, Johnson, Danielle B, Gunnell, Kevin , Faist, Akasha , Garbowski, Magda , Kildisheva, Olga , Neumann, Danielle , Gornish, Elise , (2025) "Practitioner tools for addressing knowing-doing gaps in seed-based restoration" . Restoration Ecology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rec.70043
Pienaar, Ryan , Bishop, Tara BB, Schill, Steven R, St. Clair, Samuel B, (2025) "Detecting spatiotemporal changes in harvester ant disks in response to fire and rodent competition using small unoccupied aerial systems imagery" (Issue: 72, vol. 40). Landscape Ecology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10980-025-02078-0
Duniway, Michael C, Knight, Anna C, Nauman, Travis , Bishop, Tara B B, McCord, Sarah E, Webb, Nicholas P, Williams, C Jason, Humphries, Joel T, (2025) "Quantifying regional ecological dynamics using agency monitoring data, ecological site descriptions, and ecological site groups" . Rangeland Ecology & Management. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1550742424002021
Villarreal, Miguel L., Bishop, Tara B. B., Sandkey, Temuulen Ts., Smith, William K., Burgess, Matthew A., Caughlin, T. Trevor, Gillan, Jeffrey K., Havrilla, Caroline A., Huang, Tao , LeBeau, Raymond L., Libantino Norton, Cynthia , Sankey, Joel B., Scholl, Victoria M., von Nonn, Joshua , Yao, Erika H., (2025) "Applications of unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) in landscape ecology_ a review of recent research, challenges and emerging opportunities" (Issue: 43, vol. 40). Landscape Ecology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10980-024-02040-6
Stanton, Rebekah L, Saunders, Carrie Evans, Bishop, Tara B B, St. Clair, Samuel B, (2025) "Rodent herbivory preferences and their implications for plant community assembly and invasion in a post-fire desert ecosystem" . Biological Invasions. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-024-03505-0

Awards

Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Works

Office of Academic Affairs; Scholarship & Creative Works - October, 2024

I was nominated for recognition of my demonstrated excellence in scholarship and creative works during the 2023-24 Academic Year.