Sarah R. Supp
Associate Professor
Biography
I am an ecologist who uses data analytics techniques to study biodiversity in a changing world. I’m really excited to be a part of the interdisciplinary Data Analytics Program, which represents an emerging field and a set of tools that is increasingly important for success across career paths. As it becomes easier to quickly collect large amounts of data or gain access to complex datasets, a solid foundation in data and computational literacy is needed solve the important problems of our time. At Denison University, my goal is to work together with students to foster creative and critical thought through hands-on learning and research, to become effective communicators and problem-solvers. I teach core courses in the Data Analytics Program, and conduct data-driven ecological research on biodiversity, avian migration, and long-term trends in ecological communities. If you are curious about these things, we should chat! Outside of Denison, I enjoy chasing my kiddos around outdoors, making music, playing board games with friends, and traveling to new and faraway places.
Degree(s)
B.S., Valparaiso University; Ph.D., Utah State University
Learning & Teaching
Courses
- DA 101: Introduction to Data Analytics
- DA 200: Data Analytics Colloquium
- DA 210: Data Systems
- DA 245/BIOL 356: Dynamic Ecology
- DA 271: Special Topics, Theory and Practice of Data Visualization
- DA 301: Practicum in Data Analytics
- DA 401: Seminar in Data Analytics
Research
I use data driven methods to understand the complex changes that plants and animals face in our world today. I also conduct research on the growth of data science in undergraduate education across different universities and disciplinary contexts.
Details
My ecological research is motivated by the question: how do perturbations drive fundamental change in biodiversity across ecological scales? I am especially interested in understanding how changes observed at one level of organization (e.g., organism or population) scale up to impact other levels of organization (e.g., community diversity, ecosystem function). In this work, I combine local-scale field observation and experimental data with the analysis of large continental and global datasets and computational approaches. If you’re interested in how the intersections of programming, math, and ecology can be used to explore biodiversity patterns, please contact me!
I'm also interested in analytical approaches to understand how data science skills are being taught to undergraduate students across different disciplinary contexts, and how we can better equip both faculty and students to understand and use data-driven methods. This work includes leading and supporting several collaborative networks of faculty and educators to share teaching methods, publish open educational resources, assess curricular frameworks, and develop survey methods to understand the barriers and successes in data science education. If you're interested in learning more about this work, or contributing, please contact me for more information.
Works
Publications
- Ghosh, S., B. Matthews, S.R. Supp, R. van Klink, F. Pomati, J.A. Rusak, I. Khaliq, N.E. Zimmerman, T. Wohlgenmuth, O. Seehausen, C. Rixen, M.M. Gosner, A. Narwani, J.M. Chase, C.H. Graham. In revision. Synchrony and tail-dependent synchrony have different effects on the stability of terrestrial and freshwater communities. Global Ecology and Biogeography. Preprint, Authorea, ESS Open Archive (2023) doi: 10.22541/au.169287307.74379399/v1
- O’Donnell, K., M. Aiello-Lammens, E. Bledsoe, F.J. Bowlick, L. Broughton, O. Calderon, E. Crispo, N. Emery, K. Farrell, M. Ngiramahoro, N. Patel, S. Paudel, L. Richardson, B.E. Soares, S.R. Supp, E. Weigel. 2024. BEDE Network Data Science Skills Curriculum Map. Biological and Environmental Data Education Network, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/MSFG-6X39
- Khaliq, I., C.Rixen, F. Zellweger, C.H. Graham, M.M. Gossner, I.R. McFadden, L. Antão, J. Broderson, S. Ghosh, F. Pomati, O. Seehausen, T. Roth, T. Sattler, S.R. Supp, M. Riaz, N. Zimmerman, B. Matthews, and A. Narwani. 2024. Warming underpins community turnover in temperate freshwater and terrestrial communities. Nature Communications. 15, 1921. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46282-z
- Blowes S.A., G.N. Daskalova, M. Dornelas, T. Engel, N.J. Gotelli, A. Magurran, I.S. Martins, B.J. McGill, D.J. McGlinn, A. Sagoius, H. Shimadzu, S.R. Supp, J.M. Chase. 2022. Local biodiversity change reflects interactions among changing abundance, evenness and richness. Ecology. 103: e3820. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3820
- Supp, S.R., G. Bohrer, J. Fieberg, F.A. La Sorte. 2021. Estimating the movements of terrestrial animal populations using broad-scale occurrence data. Movement Ecology. 9, 60 doi: 10.1186/s40462-021-00294-2, invited review
- Gotelli, N.J., F. Moyes, L.H. Antão, S.A. Blowes, M. Dornelas, B. McGill, A. Penny, A. Schipper, H. Shimadzu, S.R. Supp, C. Waldock, A.E. Magurran. 2022. Long-term changes in biodiversity are driven by a small subset of species. Global Change Biology. 28: 46-53 doi: 10.1111/gcb.15947
- Emery, N.C., E. Crispo, S.R. Supp, A.J. Kerkhoff, K.J. Farrell, E.K. Bledsoe, K.L. O’Donnell, A.C. McCall, and M. Aiello-Lammens. 2021. Data science in undergraduate life science education: a need for instructor skills training. BioScience. 71: 1274-1287. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biab107
- Daskalova, G.N., I.H. Myers-Smith, A.D. Bjorkman, S.A. Blowes, S.R. Supp, A.E. Magurran, M. Dornelas. 2020. Landscape scale forest loss as a catalyst of population and biodiversity change. Science. 368(6497) 1341-1347. doi: 10.1126/science.aba1289
- Antao, L.H., A.E. Bates, S.A. Blowes C. Waldock, S.R. Supp, A.E. Magurran, M. Dornelas, A.M. Schipper. 2020. Temperature-related biodiversity change across temperate marine and terrestrial systems. Nature Ecology and Evolution. 4: 927-933 doi: 10.1038/s41559-020-1185-7
- Bowler, D.E. , A. Bjorkman, L. Navarro, A. Niamir, C. Waldock, M. Dornelas, M.I. O’Connor, S.R. Supp, K. Bohning-Gaese, H. Bruelheide, R. Elahi, L. Henriques Antao, J. Hines, F. Isbell, H. Jones, A. Magurran, J. Sarmento Cabral, M. Winter, M. Vellend, A.E. Bates. 2020. Mapping human pressures on biodiversity across the planet uncovers anthropogenic threat complexes. People and Nature. doi: 10.1002/pan3.10071
- Blowes, S.A.* and Supp, S.R.*, L. Antao, A.E. Bates, H. Bruelheide, J.M. Chase, F. Moyes, A.E. Magurran, B.J. McGill, I.H. Myers-Smith, M. Winter, A. Bjorkman, D. Bowler, J.E.K. Byrnes, A. Gonzalez, J. Hines, F. Isbell, H.P. Jones, L.M. Navarro, P.L. Thompson, M. Vellend, C. Waldock, and M. Dornelas. 2019. The comparative strength of biodiversity trends in marine and terrestrial assemblages. Science. doi: 10.1126/science.aaw1620 *shared first authorship
- Chase, J.M.*, B.J. McGill*, P.L. Thompson, L.H. Antao, A.E. Bates, S.A. Blowes, M. Dornelas, A. Gonzalez, A.E. Magurran, S.R. Supp, M. Winter, A.D. Bjorkman, H. Bruelheide, J.E.K. Byrnes, J.S. Cabral, R. Elahi, C. Gomez, H. Guzman, F. Isbell, I.H. Myers-Smith, H.P. Jones, J. Hines, M. Vellend, C. Waldock, M. O’Connor. 2019. Species richness change across spatial scales. Oikos. doi: 10.111/oik.05968 *shared first authorship
- Yenni, G.M., E.M. Christensen, E.K. Bledsoe, S.R. Supp, R.M. Diaz, E.P. White, and S.K.M. Ernest. 2019. Developing a modern data workflow for living data. PLOS Biology. 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000125
- Dornelas, M., and BioTIME consortium (200+ authors). 2018. BioTIME: a database of biodiversity time-series for the Anthropocene. Global Ecology and Biogeography. data paper. 10.1111/geb.12729
- Ernest, S.K.M., G.M. Yenni, G. Allington, E.K. Bledsoe, E.M. Christensen, R.M. Diaz, J.R. Goheen, Q. Guo, E. Heske, D. Kelt, J.M. Meiners, J. Munger, C. Restrepo, D.A. Samson, M.R. Schutzenhofer, M. Skupski, S.R. Supp, K. Thibault, S. Taylor, E.P. White, D.W. Davidson, J.H. Brown, and T.J. Valone. 2018. The Portal Project: A long-term study of a Chihuahuan desert ecosystem. bioRxiv. 10.1101/332783| web
- Bannar-Martin, K.B., C. Kremer, S.K.M. Ernest, M.A. Leibold, H. Auge, J. Chase, S. Declerck, N. Eisenhauer, S. Harpole, H. Hillebrand, F. Isbell, T. Koffel, S. Larsen, A. Narwani, J.S. Petermann, C. Roscher, J. Sarmento Cabral, S.R. Supp. 2017. Community Assembly and the Functioning of Ecosystems: integrating community assembly and biodiversity to better understand ecosystem function. Ecology Letters. doi: 10.11111/ele12895
- Graham, L.J., B.G. Weinstein, S.R. Supp, and C.H. Graham. 2017. Future geographic patterns of novel and disappearing assemblages across three dimensions of diversity: A case study with Ecuadorian hummingbirds. Diversity and Distributions. doi: 10.1111/ddi.12587
- Hampton. S.E., M.B. Jones, L.A. Wasser, M.A. Schildauer, S.R. Supp, J. Brun, R.R. Hernandez, C. Boettiger, S.L. Collins, L.J. Gross, D.S. Fernandez, A. Budden, E.P. White, T.K. Teal, S. Labou, J.E. Aukema, J. Regetz . 2017. Skills and knowledge for data-intensive environmental research. BioScience. 67: 546-557. doi: 10.1093/biosci/bix025
- Graham, C.H., S. R. Supp, D.R. Powers, P.A. Beck, M.C.W. Lim, A. Shankar, T.A. Cormier, S.J. Goetz, and S. Wethington. 2016. Winter conditions influence biological response of migrating humingbirds. Ecosphere. doi: 10.1002/ecs2.1470
- Ernest, S.K.M., G.M. Yenni, G. Allington, E.M. Christensen, K. Geluso, J.R. Goheen, M.R. Schutzenhofer, S.R. Supp, K.M. Thibault, J.H. Brown, T.J. Valone. 2016. Long-term monitoring and experimental manipulation of a Chihuahuan Desert ecosystem near Portal, Arizona, USA (1977-2013). Ecology. doi:10.1890/15-2115.1
- Supp, S. R., D. N. Koons, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. Using life history trade-offs to understand core-transient structuring of a small mammal community. Ecosphere. 6: art187. doi: 10.1890/ES15-00239.1
- Supp, S. R., F.A. La Sorte, T.A. Cormier, M.C.W. Lim, D.R. Powers, S.M. Wethington, S.J. Goetz, and C.H. Graham. 2015. Citizen-science data provides new insight into annual and seasonal variation in migration patterns. Ecosphere 6: art15. doi: 10.1890/ES14-00290.1
- Supp, S. R. and S. K. M. Ernest. 2014. Species-level and community-level responses to disturbance: a cross-community analysis. Ecology 95: 1717-1723.
- White, E. P., E. M. Baldridge, Z. T. Brym, K. J. Locey, D. J. McGlinn, and S. R. Supp. 2013. Nine simple ways to make it easier to (re)use your data. Ideas in Ecology and Evolution. 6: 1-10.
- Supp, S. R. 2013. Local and regional drivers of biodiversity: from life-history traits to system-level properties. Graduate Dissertation. Utah State University. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1503
- Supp, S. R., X. Xiao, S. K. M. Ernest, and E. P. White. 2012. An experimental test of the response of macroecological patterns to altered species interactions. Ecology. 93: 2505-2511.
- Cobbold, S. M. and S. R. Supp. 2012. Patch shape alters spider community structure: links between microhabitat choice and sensitivity to increased edge habitat. Journal of Insect Conservation. 4: 581-589.
- Thibault, K. M., S. R. Supp, M. Giffin, E. P. White and S. K. M. Ernest. 2011. Species composition and abundance of mammalian communities. Ecology. 92: 2316.
- Supp, S. R. and E.P. White. 2010. Measures of journal quality should separate reviews from original research. Ideas in Ecology and Evolution. 3: 16-19.
- O’Donnell, R. S.R. Supp and S. M. Cobbold. 2010. Hindrance of conservation biology by delays in the submission of manuscripts. Conservation Biology. 24: 615-620.
- Shaw, A.K., D.E. Stanton, S.R. Supp, A. Budden, S. Eby, P.L. Reynolds, R. Salguero-Gómez, D.R. Scholes, and N.B. Zimmerman. 2015. Ecology postdocs in academia: primary concerns and possible solutions. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 96: 140-152.
- Scholes, D.R., D.E. Stanton, and S.R. Supp. 2014. ESA’s Early Career Ecologist Section: Supporting the professional development of early career ecologists in all career trajectories. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 95: 435-438.
Service
Professional Memberships
- Licking County Coalition for Housing
- Biological and Environmental Data Education Network
- Women in Analytics
- Data Visualization Society
- Ecological Society of America
- International Biogeography Society
- NSF INCLUDES Ecology and Data Science Inclusion Network
- The Carpentries
Other
Grants & Funding
- EAGER: A novel investigation of population and community temporal trajectories leveraging experimental disturbances from Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research network site, 2-year exploratory grant. 2022-2024. Supp PI. $194,500
- Alliance to Advance Liberal Arts Colleges (AALAC) workshop proposal. 2024. Reproducibility and Replicability in the Liberal Arts. Co-organized with Joseph Holler (Middlebury; lead), Nicholas Horton (Amherst), Richard Ball (Haverford), Norm Medeiros (Haverford), and Manolis Kaparakis (Wesleyan). $20,000
- Ashbrook Faculty mini-grant to support project-based learning in Licking County. Quantifying the rental landscape in Licking County to support affordable housing development and funding efforts by a local non-profit. Denison University. Funded, $1000
- Biological and Environmental Data Education (BEDE) Network. 2021-2026. National Science Foundation, 5-year Research Coordination Network – Undergraduate Biology Education, coPI with Matthew Aiello-Lammens and Erika Crispo (Pace University), Nate Emery (Michigan State University), Kelly O’Donnell (CUNY). $499,354
- The importance of spatial scale for understanding range- and niche-limits. 2019-2022. National Science Foundation DEB-1915913 Collaborative Multi-institution Grant, PI with D. Ward, O.J. Rocha (Kent State University), J.S. Medeiros (Holden Arboretum), and G. Bohrer (Ohio State University). $914,000
- Biological and Environmental Data Education (BEDE) Network. Research Coordination Network-Undergraduate Biology Education Incubator. 2018-2019. National Science Foundation. co-PI with Drew Kerkhoff, Susy Escheverria-Lodono (Kenyon College), and Matthew Aiello-Lammens (Pace University). $72,000
Honors & Awards
- Bartlett Family Pre-Tenure Fellow (2020-2021)
Student Collaborations
- A new method to classify long-term biodiversity patterns, using data from tallgrass prairie restoration experiments.
- Biana Qiu (BIOL). Fall 2023-Spring 2024
- Nancy Tram Tran (DA & ENVS). Fall 2023-Spring 2024
- Survey of local landlords in Licking County to understand current housing trends and challenges.
- Jiayu Zhao (DA) Spring 2023
- Using crowd-sourced eBird data to infer migration and spatial patterns of avian seed dispersers of eastern red cedar tree in the United States.
- Jessy Jiahui Niu (DA). Spring, Summer, and Fall 2020, Fall 2021
- Kairuo Yan (DA). Fall 2021
- Ava Oberle (DA & BIOL). Fall 2021-Spring 2022
- Esther Eun Young Lee (DA). Summer-Fall 2022
- Maximilian Wisnefski (DA). Summer 2023
- Long-term butterfly diversity in an ecological restoration project at The Wilds, Cumberland, OH.
- Francis Biagioli (BIOL). Spring 2019
- Jonas Nielsen (BIOL). Spring 2019
- Kymani Senior (CS). Spring 2019
