Contact Sonia Hall

Arid Lands Ecologist

Background:
Sonia grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She obtained her bachelor's degree from the University of Buenos Aires's School of Agronomy. While in school, she worked with a research team that studied the structure and function of the Patagonian shrub steppe. For her undergraduate thesis she analyzed the temporal and spatial patterns in lambing rate in northwest Patagonia (sheep grazing is the dominant land use), determining the environmental constraints on this measure of animal productivity, and postulating the existence of thresholds beyond which sheep grazing is not sustainable. Sonia obtained her PhD from Colorado State University in 2005, where she worked in the ponderosa pine forests of the Colorado Front Range. She looked at long-term dynamics of litter and woody debris in these forests. She started work with The Nature Conservancy as the Arid Lands Ecologist in September 2005 and is based in the North Central Washington Office, in Wenatchee.

Current Projects/Professional Focus:
Sonia provides science support for central and eastern Washington programs. Her current focus is central Washington, in shrub steppe and dry forest systems (Moses Coulee Conservation Area and Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative, respectively). She works with program staff to determine how best to learn from the stewardship and restoration actions taken, and what scientific knowledge or tools can be brought to bear to strengthen the scientific support for decision making. She is currently starting a research project focused on identifying species that can be monitored as indicators of the impacts of climate change in shrub steppe and east-side forests. She is also working with program staff to develop a wheat field restoration experiment, and a monitoring plan to measure progress towards shrub steppe conservation goals.

Fun Fact:
Sonia has a 3 year old boy who is, of course, the best kid in the world.