Beckstead

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Julie Beckstead, Ph.D.
Professor
Biology Department and Environmental Studies
Gonzaga University
502 East Boone Avenue
Spokane, WA 99258

Phone:  (509) 313-6688
Fax:   (509)  313-5804
e-mail:  beckstead@gonzaga.edu

Research Interest:  Ecology, Invasion Biology, Plant Pathogen Interactions, Restoration Ecology, Bald Eagles

Courses Taught:  Community Ecology, Conservation Biology, Non-Majors Science courses (Biological Systems, Human Ecology), Lower-Division Biology courses (Energy Flow in Biological Systems, Introduction to Ecology), Biology Research Seminar, Advanced Topics (Invasion Biology, Genetically Modified Planet)

Students interested in research, please see:
Beckstead Research Interest - Current Projects Website Link
You-Tube video Faculty-Student Research Opportunities
You Tube video We are Zags! Feature
Beckstead Research Collaborations on Cheatgrass Biological Control Website Link
Beckstead Research Featured on Northwest Public Radio

Students interested in landscaping with native plants, please see:
Northeast Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society

Students interested in teaching life science or general science at the primary or secondary level, please see myself or Dr. Pauw for more information about this career choice.

Education
Postdoc University of California, Santa Cruz; PhD University of Illinois; MS & BS Brigham Young University


Peer-reviewed Publications (sampling; *denotes undergraduate student)

Meyer, SE, KT Merrill, PS Allen, J Beckstead, and *AS Norte. Indirect Effects of an Invasive Annual Grass on Perennial Grass Seed Fates.  Accepted 4 May 2013 to Oecologia.

Beckstead J, *LE Miller, and *BM Connolly. 2012. Direct and indirect effects of plant litter on a seed pathogen interaction in Bromus tectorum seed banks. Seed Science Research 22:135-144.

Beckstead, J, *AN Lagasse, and SR Robinson. 2011. Exploring the population dynamics of wintering bald eagles through long-term data. Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology Vol.7: Data sets [online]. http://tiee.esa.org/vol/v7/issues/data_sets/beckstead/abstract.html.

Beckstead, J, SE Meyer, *LE Street, and PS Allen. 2011. Effect of fire on a seed bank pathogen and on seeds of its host Bromus tectorum. Rangeland Ecology & Management 64:148-157.

*Dooley, SR and J Beckstead. 2010. Characterizing the interaction between a fungal seed pathogen and a deleterious rhizobacteria for cheatgrass control. Biological Control 53: 197-203.

Beckstead, J, SE Meyer, *BM Connolly, *MB Huck, and *LE Street. 2010. Cheatgrass facilitates spillover of a seed bank pathogen onto native grass species. Journal of Ecology 98:168-177.

Meyer, SE, J Beckstead, PS Allen, and DC Smith. 2008. A seed bank pathogen causes seedborne disease: Pyrenophora semeniperda on undispersed grass seeds in western North America. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology: 30(4): 525-533.

Beckstead, J, SE Meyer, *CJ Molder, and *C Smith. 2007. A race for seed resources: can Bromus tectorum seeds escape Pyenophora semeniperda-caused mortality by germinating quickly? Annals of Botany 99(5): 1-8.

Beckstead, J and CK Augspurger. 2004. An experimental test of resistance to cheatgrass invasion: limiting resources at different life stages. Biological Invasions 6(4): 417-432.

Beckstead, J and IM Parker. 2003. Invasiveness of Ammophila arenaria: release from soil-borne pathogens? Ecology 84(12): 2824-2831.


Research PATENT

US Provisional Patent Application. No. 61/514,811. Inventors: Susan E. Meyer, Suzette Clement, and Julie Beckstead. Entitled: Annual Brome control using a native fungal seed pathogen. Filed August 3, 2011. Provisional converted to Utility. Filed July 27, 2012.


Grants awarded

  • 2011   Joint Fire Science Program (USDI and USDA). Title: Enhancing the Effectiveness of Annual Grass Weed Biocontrol with the Black Fingers of Death Pathogen (Pyrenophora semeniperda). (with Dr. Susan Meyer, USDA Shrub Science Laboratory and Dr. Phil Allen, Brigham Young University). Total Award: $424,018; Gonzaga Award: $136,675. Received November 2011. End date May 2015.
  • 2011   Bureau of Land Management (USDI). Understanding the Causes and Consequences of Cheatgrass Dieoffs in the Great Basin. (with Dr. Meyer USDA Shrub Science Laboratory; Drs. Leger, Weisberg and Forister from University of Nevada-Reno; Drs. Aanderud and Geary from Brigham Young University). Total Award: $360,300 for first 2 yrs; Gonzaga Award: $33,000. Received Sept. 2011. End date Dec. 2013.
  • 2009   NIFA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (USDA). Title: Exotic Bromus grasses in agroecosystems of the western U.S.: REE-net synthesis of current and future invasions, impacts, and management. PI: Matt Germino. One of 26 experts selected to participate. Total Award: $199,704; Gonzaga Award: $0.00. Received October 2009.
  • 2007   CSREES National Research Initiative (USDA). Title: Evolutionary and Community Ecology of the Seed Bank Pathogen Pyrenophora semeniperda on Cheatgrass Dominated Rangelands. (with Dr. Meyer, USDA Shrub Science Laboratory; Drs. Allen, Coleman, and Stevens, Brigham Young University; and Dr. Boose, Gonzaga University). Total Award: $388,699; Gonzaga Award: $100,154. Received December 2007.
  • 2007   Joint Fire Sciences Program (USDI and USDA). Title: Annual brome biocontrol after wildfire using a native fungal seed pathogen. (with Dr. Susan Meyer, USDA Shrub Science Laboratory and Dr. Phil Allen, Brigham Young University). Total Award: $353,089; Gonzaga Award: $116,256. Received September 2007.
  • 2005   M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. Murdock College Research Program for Life Sciences. Title: The invasive cheatgrass encounters a new seed pathogen: strategies to copy with infection and consequences of these relations on native co-occurring plant species. Received April 2005 - $39,610.