Kelly S. Ramirez, Ph.D
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
University of Colorado, Boulder, 2007-2012
B.S. Biology, Washington State University, Pullman, 2007
PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT
Current Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Texas, El Paso
Nov 2016 – Present Co-Founder/President of 500 Women Scientists, International
May 2014 – 2019 Postdoctoral Scholar, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO), Wageningen, The Netherlands
Jan. 2014 – April 2014 Postdoctoral Fellow, Synthesis Centre of Biodiversity, Sciences (sDIV), Leipzig, Germany
May 2012- Jan. 2014 Executive Director, Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative (GSBI) & Postdoctoral Scholar, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA
RESEARCH & OUTREACH – Science is integral for tackling the world’s biggest challenges – including climate change and biodiversity loss. As a woman and as a scientist I recognize that diverse groups from a wide range of racial, gender, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds improve science, yet science and scientific institutions are far from inclusive. Through my research in ecology and my non-profit organization (500 Women Scientists), I am working to create an inclusive scientific enterprise where we can together address the most pressing environmental challenges of our society.
- I am a recognized leader in the field of microbial ecology; I have published in multiple high impact journals, am invited to present my research at meetings, and am a frequent contributor to global workshops/meetings for the progress of soil ecology and biodiversity.
- I have a strong background in leadership, fundraising, science communication, and mentorship. In both my research and as Co-Founder of 500 Women Scientists I design and run national and international projects, lead fundraising, am responsible for the short and long-term planning of my organization and my research, and organize and direct in-person meetings.
PUBLICATION SUMMARY: Citation statistics (since 2010)
Web of Science: 18 Publications; Citations = 1379; H-Index = 11; !10-index= 13 (google scholar)
Ramirez, K.S., C.G. Knight et al. and F.T. de Vries (2018). Detecting macroecological patterns in bacterial
communities across independent studies of global soils. Nature Microbiology. 10.1038/s41564-017-0062-x
(Cited by GS:5; Dimensions:6; Tweets:224; Attention Score: 156)
Ramirez, KS, LB Snoek, S. Geisen, E. Morrien, and WH van der Putten (2018). Advances in above-belowground ecology, from individuals to ecosystems. Trends in Plant Sciences. doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2018.06.009
(Cited by GS:NA; Dimensions:NA; Tweets:66; Attention Score: 39)
Ramirez, K.S., J.W. Leff, A. Barberán, S.T. Bates, J. Betley, T.W. Crowther, E.F. Kelly, E.E. Oldfield, E.A. Shaw, C. Steenbock, M.A. Bradford, D.H. Wall, N. Fierer. (2014). Biogeographic patterns in belowground diversity in New York City’s Central Park are similar to those observed globally. Proceeding of the Royal Society B. 281(1795). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.1988
(Cited by GS:124; Dimensions: 111; Tweets: 51; Attention Score: 150)
Ramirez, K.S., J.M. Craine, N. Fierer. (2012). Consistent effects of nitrogen amendments on soil microbial communities and processes across biomes. Global Change Biology. 18(6):1918-1927. (Cited by – GS:473; Dimensions:347; Tweets: 4; Attention Score: 2 )
Ramirez, K.S., C.L. Lauber, M. Bradford, R. Knight, N. Fierer. (2010). Consistent effects of nitrogen fertilization on soil bacterial communities in contrasting systems. Ecology. 91(12):3463-3470.
(Cited by GS: 263; Dimensions: 195; Tweets: NA; Attention Score: NA)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Advising and classroom teaching
2019 Lecturer. Postgraduate Soil Ecology course. Wageningen University
2017/18 Supervisor. Bachelor Thesis. Dean de Haas. Netherlands Institute of Ecology
2017 Supervisor. Mini-projects for 4 Masters students, Wageningen University
2016/17 Supervisor. Bachelor Thesis. Alise Zvigel. Netherlands Institute of Ecology
2015 Supervisor. Bachelor Intern. Agata Tarasek. Netherlands Institute of Ecology
2015 Guest Lecturer, “Functional Implications of soil biodiversity”. Functional Ecology
course, Wageningen University
2014 Guest Lecturer, “Functional Implications of soil biodiversity”. Functional Ecology course, Wageningen University
2014 Guest Lecturer, “Soil Biodiversity in Central Park”. University of North Carolina, NC
2014 Guest Lecturer, “Soil Biodiversity in Central Park”. Edward’s University, Austin, TX
2012 Classroom Expert, “Educurious”- High school outreach program, U of Washington
2008-2011 Graduate Advisor, Summer Multicultural Access to Research Training (SMART), CU
2008-2010 Instructor, Critical Thinking NIH-HHMI Seminar, University of Colorado
2008 Teaching Assistant, Microbiology Lab, University of Colorado
2007 Teaching Assistant, General Biology Lab, University of Colorado
Leadership outside the classroom
Since 2016 500 Women Scientists, Co-Founder/President
2018 Lead organizer. Meeting “Species range shifts, above-belowground community reassembly and consequences for ecosystem functioning” Wageningen, The Netherlands
2018 Moderator. Banishing your inner imposter webinar. The Science Network of UCS.
2016 Presenter and organizer. “Welcome to the Twitterverse” Social Media Workshop, NIOO, NL
2016 Co-organizer. Workshop. EASAC “Soils at Risk”. KNAW, Amsterdam, NL
2015 Co-organizer. Workshop. “Sequencing meta-analysis workshop” Manchester University, Manchester, UK
2014 Lead organizer. Workshop. “Establishing a framework to link soil biodiversity data globally”, EcoFinders and the GSBI, Dijon, France.
2014 Lead organizer. Workshop “sOILDIV: a framework to improve our understanding of the distribution of global soil biodiversity”, iDIV, Leipzig Germany.
2014 Invited contributor. Authors meeting to finalize the Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas, Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative. Ispra, Italy.
2013 Lead organizer. Workshop “Developing a Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas” Global Soil
Biodiversity Initiative. Fort Collins, CO, USA
GRANTS & AWARDS
2018 “Request a Woman Scientist”. Science Soap Box, Simons Foundation ($50,000)
2018 Total fundraising for 500 Women Scientists – ($52,840)
2018 SLOAN Scholars Mentoring Network Grant. ($5,000)
2017 Total fundraising for 500 Women Scientists – ($12,400)
2014 Postdoc Fellowship and Workshop Grant. Synthesis Centre of Biodiversity Sciences
(sDIV), Leipzig, Germany ($15,000)
2009 3-year Graduate Research Fellow Participant. National Science Foundation ($90,000)
2008 SLOAN Fellowship, University of Colorado ($5000)
2007 Alliances for Graduate Education and Professoriate Fellowship, National Science Foundation ($10,000)
SPEAKING EVENTS
2019 Invited Keynote. British Society of Soil Science Early Career Conference, Sheffield, UK
2019 Invited Speaker. American Society for Microbiology, San Francisco USA
2018 Invited Speaker. Soil Biodiversity: role and importance in the nexus. CBD COP-14 Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
2018 Invited Speaker. Diversity & Inclusion in Ecology. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
2015 Invited Presenter. European IgNobel Awards, 24/7 Presentation on “Soil Biodiversity”, Amsterdam, NL
SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES
2019 Invited contributor. “Conceptual developments in community ecology”Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin, Germany
2017 Invited contributor. “A global soil biodiversity database and its application to data synthesis and theory development”. sDiv, Leipzig, Germany
2017 Invited contributor. “Assembling data and metadata”, Cost Action KEYSOM. Bucharest, Romania
2016 Invited contributor. CESAB Postdocs Synthesis Workshop. Aix en Provence, France
- Member. Science Committee of the First Global Soil Biodiversity Conference. Dijon, FR
2012 Fellow. School of Global Environmental Sustainability Fellow. Colorado State, USA
