An eastern Joshua tree (Yucca jaegeriana) inflorescence (flowers) with a Yucca moth (Tegeticula antithetica) trap. SBSC is studying the ecology of the eastern Yucca moth, which is the obligate pollinator of eastern Joshua trees, to determine how climate change affects the emergence of blossoms and eastern Yucca moth visitation.
Kathryn A Thomas, Ph.D.
Dr. Kathryn Thomas is a research ecologist with the Southwest Biological Science Center, currently stationed in Tucson, Arizona.
Kathryn Thomas has worked the Southwestern deserts since 1989 and for the USGS since 1995. Her areas of expertise are in biodiversity studies during the Anthropocene, including studies of vegetation ecology, plant-insect interactions (pollinators), and invasive species (Russian thistle, introduced tree-feeding insects) on species, community, and landscape scales.
Professional Experience
Research Ecologist, 1995-2010, 2012-present: Southwest Biological Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Tucson & Flagstaff, Arizona
Adjunct professor, 2014-present: University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment
Information Management Liaison, 2010 - 2012: Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Program, Portland, Oregon
Plant Phenology Program Coordinator, 2007-2010: USA National Phenology Network, Tucson, Arizona
Adjunct professor, 1997-2005: Northern Arizona University, Geography Department
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Geography: University of California at Santa Barbara, CA. "Vegetation and floristic diversity in the Mojave Desert of California: A regional conservation evaluation"
M.S., Environmental Horticulture: University of California at Davis, CA. "Vegetative propagation and Actinorhizal nodulation of Ceanothus spp."
B.S., Biology: University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Graduate Certificate in Medical Entomology, University of Florida
The Lepidoptera Course, American Museum of Natural History, Portal, Arizona
The Bee Course, American Museum of Natural History, Portal, Arizona
Certificate of Emergency Management Planning, University of Washington
Science and Products
Informing Renewable Energy Development Siting Decisions with Vertebrate Biodiversity Measures
'Eastern' Joshua trees and their sole pollinators, 'eastern' Yucca moths
Managing for Grassland Health at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
Predicting the Next High-Impact Insect Invasion
Endangered Cacti in Arizona
Predicting the next high-impact insect invasion: Elucidating traits and factors determining the risk of introduced herbivorous insects on North American native plants
Traits and Factors Catalog (TRAFAC): Non-native insects of North American forests
Bees of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona: Taxonomic data and site photos
Bartram's Stonecrop (Graptopetalum bartramii) survey data from southern Arizona, 2020-2021
Climatic suitability models and assessments for plant species and communities of the Southwestern US
USGS Earthmap Capacity Assessment Dataset
Traits and Factors Catalog (TRAFAC): Hardwood specialists of North America
A snapshot of stakeholder science needs related to drought in the Colorado River Basin
Traits and Factors Catalog (TRAFAC): Conifer specialists of North America
Russian-thistle field and seed bank data at Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, 2015-2016
Central Mojave Desert Vegetation Mapping Project, California, 1997-1999: Plots Points and Photographs
Landscape-scale wildlife species richness metrics
Southwest Exotic Mapping Program (SWEMP) Database, 2007
An eastern Joshua tree (Yucca jaegeriana) inflorescence (flowers) with a Yucca moth (Tegeticula antithetica) trap. SBSC is studying the ecology of the eastern Yucca moth, which is the obligate pollinator of eastern Joshua trees, to determine how climate change affects the emergence of blossoms and eastern Yucca moth visitation.
A researcher sets traps on an eastern Joshua tree inflorescence to assess visitation by their sole pollinator, the eastern Yucca moth
linkSBSC researcher Mary Kathryn Busby sets traps on a Joshua tree in NW Arizona, April 2022. SBSC is studying the ecology of the Yucca moth (Tegeticula antithetica), which is the obligate pollinator of eastern Joshua trees (Yucca jaegeriana) to determine how climate change affects the emergence of blossoms and eastern Yucca moth visitation.
A researcher sets traps on an eastern Joshua tree inflorescence to assess visitation by their sole pollinator, the eastern Yucca moth
linkSBSC researcher Mary Kathryn Busby sets traps on a Joshua tree in NW Arizona, April 2022. SBSC is studying the ecology of the Yucca moth (Tegeticula antithetica), which is the obligate pollinator of eastern Joshua trees (Yucca jaegeriana) to determine how climate change affects the emergence of blossoms and eastern Yucca moth visitation.
A composite of four photos taken during research on Joshua trees, Arizona Joshua Tree Forest, Mojave Desert. Photos by Morgan Andrews and Daniel Winkler, USGS, SBSC. Daniel Winkler is pictured at top right, and Morgan Andrews is pictured at bottom left.
A composite of four photos taken during research on Joshua trees, Arizona Joshua Tree Forest, Mojave Desert. Photos by Morgan Andrews and Daniel Winkler, USGS, SBSC. Daniel Winkler is pictured at top right, and Morgan Andrews is pictured at bottom left.
Bees of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge—A preliminary report on a bee survey in a vulnerable semi-desert grassland of the Sonoran Desert
Pollinators are vital to the continued existence and seed production of about 87.5 percent of all flowering plants (Ollerton and others, 2011). In the semi-desert grasslands of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, in the Sonoran Desert of the United States, flowering forbs provide seed vital to the food base of wildlife, including the 136 species of resident and migratory birds using the Refuge’
Random forest classification of multitemporal Landsat 8 spectral data and P\phenology metrics for land cover mapping in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts
Decoupling of species and plant communities of the U.S. Southwest: A CCSM4 climate scenario example
Phylogenetic risk assessment is robust for forecasting the impact of European insects on North American conifers
Rocky Mountain Region Science Exchange 2020—EarthMAP and the Colorado River Basin
Capacity assessment for Earth Monitoring, Analysis, and Prediction (EarthMAP) and future integrated monitoring and predictive science at the U.S. Geological Survey
Predicting non-native insect impact: Focusing on the trees to see the forest
A not so sudden impact—Historical relations between conifers and insects can help predict damage by nonnative insects
The impact is in the details: Evaluating a standardized protocol and scale for determining non-native insect impact
Evolutionary history predicts high-impact invasions by herbivorous insects
Establishment of Salsola tragus on aeolian sands: A Southern Colorado Plateau case study
Arizona hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus var. arizonicus)—A systematic data assessment in support of recovery
Colorado River Basin Projects
The Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology Team has created an interactive map of USGS projects to highlight the integrated science currently conducted within the Colorado River Basin. These projects are not all inclusive of the work conducted by the USGS within the CRB, but highlight the broad range of integrated science currently conducted.
Science and Products
Informing Renewable Energy Development Siting Decisions with Vertebrate Biodiversity Measures
'Eastern' Joshua trees and their sole pollinators, 'eastern' Yucca moths
Managing for Grassland Health at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
Predicting the Next High-Impact Insect Invasion
Endangered Cacti in Arizona
Predicting the next high-impact insect invasion: Elucidating traits and factors determining the risk of introduced herbivorous insects on North American native plants
Traits and Factors Catalog (TRAFAC): Non-native insects of North American forests
Bees of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona: Taxonomic data and site photos
Bartram's Stonecrop (Graptopetalum bartramii) survey data from southern Arizona, 2020-2021
Climatic suitability models and assessments for plant species and communities of the Southwestern US
USGS Earthmap Capacity Assessment Dataset
Traits and Factors Catalog (TRAFAC): Hardwood specialists of North America
A snapshot of stakeholder science needs related to drought in the Colorado River Basin
Traits and Factors Catalog (TRAFAC): Conifer specialists of North America
Russian-thistle field and seed bank data at Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, 2015-2016
Central Mojave Desert Vegetation Mapping Project, California, 1997-1999: Plots Points and Photographs
Landscape-scale wildlife species richness metrics
Southwest Exotic Mapping Program (SWEMP) Database, 2007
An eastern Joshua tree (Yucca jaegeriana) inflorescence (flowers) with a Yucca moth (Tegeticula antithetica) trap. SBSC is studying the ecology of the eastern Yucca moth, which is the obligate pollinator of eastern Joshua trees, to determine how climate change affects the emergence of blossoms and eastern Yucca moth visitation.
An eastern Joshua tree (Yucca jaegeriana) inflorescence (flowers) with a Yucca moth (Tegeticula antithetica) trap. SBSC is studying the ecology of the eastern Yucca moth, which is the obligate pollinator of eastern Joshua trees, to determine how climate change affects the emergence of blossoms and eastern Yucca moth visitation.
A researcher sets traps on an eastern Joshua tree inflorescence to assess visitation by their sole pollinator, the eastern Yucca moth
linkSBSC researcher Mary Kathryn Busby sets traps on a Joshua tree in NW Arizona, April 2022. SBSC is studying the ecology of the Yucca moth (Tegeticula antithetica), which is the obligate pollinator of eastern Joshua trees (Yucca jaegeriana) to determine how climate change affects the emergence of blossoms and eastern Yucca moth visitation.
A researcher sets traps on an eastern Joshua tree inflorescence to assess visitation by their sole pollinator, the eastern Yucca moth
linkSBSC researcher Mary Kathryn Busby sets traps on a Joshua tree in NW Arizona, April 2022. SBSC is studying the ecology of the Yucca moth (Tegeticula antithetica), which is the obligate pollinator of eastern Joshua trees (Yucca jaegeriana) to determine how climate change affects the emergence of blossoms and eastern Yucca moth visitation.
A composite of four photos taken during research on Joshua trees, Arizona Joshua Tree Forest, Mojave Desert. Photos by Morgan Andrews and Daniel Winkler, USGS, SBSC. Daniel Winkler is pictured at top right, and Morgan Andrews is pictured at bottom left.
A composite of four photos taken during research on Joshua trees, Arizona Joshua Tree Forest, Mojave Desert. Photos by Morgan Andrews and Daniel Winkler, USGS, SBSC. Daniel Winkler is pictured at top right, and Morgan Andrews is pictured at bottom left.
Bees of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge—A preliminary report on a bee survey in a vulnerable semi-desert grassland of the Sonoran Desert
Pollinators are vital to the continued existence and seed production of about 87.5 percent of all flowering plants (Ollerton and others, 2011). In the semi-desert grasslands of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, in the Sonoran Desert of the United States, flowering forbs provide seed vital to the food base of wildlife, including the 136 species of resident and migratory birds using the Refuge’
Random forest classification of multitemporal Landsat 8 spectral data and P\phenology metrics for land cover mapping in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts
Decoupling of species and plant communities of the U.S. Southwest: A CCSM4 climate scenario example
Phylogenetic risk assessment is robust for forecasting the impact of European insects on North American conifers
Rocky Mountain Region Science Exchange 2020—EarthMAP and the Colorado River Basin
Capacity assessment for Earth Monitoring, Analysis, and Prediction (EarthMAP) and future integrated monitoring and predictive science at the U.S. Geological Survey
Predicting non-native insect impact: Focusing on the trees to see the forest
A not so sudden impact—Historical relations between conifers and insects can help predict damage by nonnative insects
The impact is in the details: Evaluating a standardized protocol and scale for determining non-native insect impact
Evolutionary history predicts high-impact invasions by herbivorous insects
Establishment of Salsola tragus on aeolian sands: A Southern Colorado Plateau case study
Arizona hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus var. arizonicus)—A systematic data assessment in support of recovery
Colorado River Basin Projects
The Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology Team has created an interactive map of USGS projects to highlight the integrated science currently conducted within the Colorado River Basin. These projects are not all inclusive of the work conducted by the USGS within the CRB, but highlight the broad range of integrated science currently conducted.