Education

PhD       Biology. University of Miami, in progress.

MS         Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management. University of Wyoming, 2006

BS          Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. University of Arizona, 2003 

BS          Plant Biology with minor emphasis in Chemistry. University of Arizona, 2002 

Awards and Honors
University of Miami Fellowship, 2005-present
Pressley-Bryan Scholarship, 2002
Beckman Foundation Scholar Fellowship, 2000-2001
Undergraduate Biology Research Program Scholar, 2001-2002
Warren C. Gill Memorial Scholarship, 2001-2002
Excellence in the Biological Sciences Scholarship, 2001
Kingston J. Smallhouse Scholarship, 2000-2001
Dean’s List and Honorable Mention, 1996-1997, 2000-2002
University of Arizona President's Award for Excellence Scholarship, 1996-97, 2000-02
Plant Science Department Scholarship, 1996-1997
The University of Arizona Alumni Scholarship, 1996-1997
University of Arizona High School Biology Apprenticeship Program Scholar, 1995-1996

Professional Experience

2005-present        Research fellow and PhD student. University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA. Advisor: Dr. Leonel Sternberg, Professor

Project 1: Linking leaf traits with root structure and function in a subtropical seasonal forest

Project 2: Predicting oxygen isotope ratios of soil respired CO₂ in a topographically complex landscape

Project3: Hydrogen fractionation during uptake by halophytic woody plants  

2003-2005             Research Assistant and Master’s student. University of Wyoming Stable Isotope Facility, Laramie, WY, USA. Advisor: Dr. David Williams

Thesis title: “Hydrogen fractionation during water uptake by woody xerophytes”

2000-2003             Beckman Fellow and Research assistant. Plant Physiological Ecology Lab, University of Arizona, Advisor: David Williams.

Research title: Water source partitioning using stable isotopes of velvet mesquite (Prosopis velutina) in the Upper San Pedro River Basin

1997                      Research Assistant. Animal Ecology Lab at Utah State University. Yuma, AZ, Advisor: Kevin Young, PhD candidate. Assisted in behavioral trials and mapping distribution and population density of flat-tailed horned lizard (Phrynosoma mcallii)

1995-1997             Research Assistant. Plant Physiology Lab at The University of Arizona. Advisor: Dr. Kathryn Taylor

Project 1: The production of the wound-inducible protein chitinase as part of the plant pathogenic response of Citrus

Project 2: Transformation of Citrus aurontifolium and ‘Troyer’ citrange by Agrobacterium tumefaciens     

Teaching Experience

Fall 2007              Teaching Assistant, Introductory biology laboratories, University of Miami

Fall 2008              Prepared and taught molecular ecology lab on RFLP, University of Miami 

Publications
Saha S, Strazisar TM, Menges ES, Ellsworth PZ, and Sternberg LdaSL. (2008) Linking the patterns in soil moisture to leaf water potential, stomatal conductance, growth, and mortality of dominant shrubs in the Florida scrub ecosystem DOI 10.1007/s11104-008-9684-3

Ellsworth PZ and DG Williams (2007) Hydrogen isotope fractionation during water uptake by woody xerophytes. Plant and Soil 291: 93-107

Scott RL, D Goodrich, L Levick, R McGuire, WL Cable, DW Williams, R Gazal, E Yepez, PZ Ellsworth and T Huxman (2006) Determining the riparian groundwater use within the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area and the Sierra Vista Sub-Basin, Arizona. In Hydrologic Requirements of and Consumptive Ground-Water Use by Riparian Vegetation along the San Pedro River, Arizona. Compiled by J.M. Leenhouts, J.C. Stromberg, and R.L. Scott. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report.

Significant reports
Scott RL, DC Goodrich, L Levick, R McGuire, WL Cable, DG Williams, R Gazal, E Yepez, PZ Ellsworth and T Huxman. (2004) San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA) water needs study:A research effort funded by the Upper San Pedro Partnership. 79 pp.

Publications in preparation
Ellsworth, PZ and DG Williams. (in prep) Contribution of deep unsaturated-zone soil water to transpiration of a facultative phreatophyte. For submission to Water Resources

Scott R, Yepez EA, Ellsworth PZ, Williams DG. (in prep) Partitioning evapotranspiration and water source use among plant functional types in a desert riparian ecosystem. For submission to the Journal of Hydrology.

Sun J, Oncley S, Stephens B, Watt A, Burns S, Campos T, Aulenbach S, Lenschow D, Tschudi D, Monson R, Hu J, Schimel D, de Wekker S, Lai C-T, Lamb B, Anderson D, Ojima D, Zhong S, Clements C, Ellsworth PZ, Sternberg LdaSL. (in prep) A multiscale investigation of CO₂ flow across local and regional mountain domains

Yepez EA, Gazal R, Ellsworth PZ, Williams DG. (in prep.) Heterogeneous water and carbon fluxes in the understory of a semiarid savanna woodland following precipitation pulses. For submission to Oecologia.
 
Yepez EA, Gazal R, Ellsworth PZ, Williams DG. (in prep.) Responses of net ecosystem fluxes of carbon and water to leaf area removals in the sagebrush steppe. For submission to Rangeland Ecology and Management

Oral presentations and Invited seminars
Ellsworth PZ and Sternberg L da S L (2007) Linking roots and leaves in a seasonal forest. University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR. invited seminar

Ellsworth PZ and DG Williams (2007) Hydrogen isotope fractionation during water uptake by woody xerophytes. Florida Society of Ecologists and Evolutionary Biologists, Lake Placid, FL. oral presentation

Ellsworth PZ, DG Williams, RL Scott and EA Yepez (2005) Contribution of deep unsaturated-zone soil water to transpiration of a facultative phreatophyte. University of Wyoming Graduate Symposium, Laramie, WY. oral presentation

Ellsworth PZ, DG Williams, RL Scott and EA Yepez (2004) Contribution of deep unsaturated-zone soil water to transpiration of a facultative phreatophyte. 89th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR. oral presentation

Poster presentations
Ellsworth PZ, L da S L Sternberg, D Schimel, R K Monson (2008) Predicting oxygen isotope ratios of soil-respired CO2 across topographically complex terrain. Isoscapes 2008, Santa Barbara, CA.   

Ellsworth PZ and DG Williams (2003) Water Use By Velvet Mesquite Prosopis velutina. Fourteenth Annual Undergraduate Biology Research Conference, Tucson, AZ.

PZ Ellsworth, EA Yepez, WL Cable, KR Hultine, and DG Williams (2002) Partitioning evapotranspiration fluxes and sources in desert floodplain ecosystems. Proc. Ecol. Soc. Am. 87th Annual Meetin, Tucson, AZ.

Ellsworth PZ and DG Williams (2001) Water Use by Velvet Mesquite Prosopis velutina” Beckman Foundation Conference of the Chemical and Biological Sciences, Irvine, CA.

Contributing Abstracts
Hultine KR, WL Cable, DG Williams, PZ Ellsworth, and RL Scott (2002) Transpiration by mesquite on a desert river floodplain. The American Geophysical Union Chapman Conference on Eco-Hydrology of Semiarid Landscapes: Interactions and Processes, Taos, NM.

Williams DG, RL Scott, G Lin, D Martens, E Yepez, PZ Ellsworth, WL Cable, J van Haren, and D Pierce (2001) Seasonal dynamics of water, carbon, and energy fluxes in mesquite woodland: project overview and preliminary results. Eos Trans. AGU, 82(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract B41A-07.

Workshops
The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) workshop, Santa Barbara, CA, 2008.

Developed a plan for measuring and collecting stable isotope data in the 10 NEON nationwide observatories

Professional societies
Ecological Society of America (ESA)
National Geographic Society

Languages
English and Portuguese

Research Interests
My research interest is to understand how root structure and function influences nutrient and water uptake at the root system level, survival and adaptation at the plant level, and plant community structure and water and nutrient cycling at the ecosystem level. Unfortunately root systems remain a virtual blackbox because plants are mainly studied from the soil up, even though roots comprise approximately 50% of all plant biomass and are the primary organs for nutrient and water uptake. How plants respond to changes in water and nutrient availability, climate, and land-use is in part explained through root function and structure. Linking above- and belowground processes better explains whole plant adaptations, which then leads to more accurate predictions of community and ecosystem-level processes.