Jim Elser

Jim Elser

Regents' Professor & Parents Association Professor
(Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Science)
Associate Director (Research and Training Initiatives)
Acting Director

email: j.elser@asu.edu

My research involves the integrative field of biological stoichiometry, the study of the balance of energy and multiple chemical elements in living systems. While this work is primarily ecological in focus and includes studies of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and biota, the approach uses an evolutionary perspective to integrate levels of organization from the molecule and cell to the ecosystem. Studies involve observational and experimental studies at various scales, including laboratory cultures, short-term field experiments and sustained whole-ecosystem manipulations. Over the years, field sites have included lakes of Colorado, Ontario, Norway and Arctic Alaska; lakes, forests, and grasslands of the upper Midwest; desert springs in Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert; grasslands of Inner Mongolia; and the surrounding Sonoran Desert. In addition, I collaborate extensively with mathematicians to develop formal theoretical approaches to these questions.

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