John Wendt
Title: Assistant Professor of Rangeland Ecosystem Management
Major Field of Interest: Rangeland Ecology and Paleoecology
Email: wendt@nmsu.edu
Office Phone: 575-646-2554
Office Location: Knox Hall 328
Education:
- B.S., Rangeland Ecology, Colorado State University, 2016
- Ph.D., Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, 2023
- Climate Hub Fellow, USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub, 2024–2025
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Oklahoma State University, 2024–2025
RGSC 317 Rangeland Communities
RGSC 460 Rangeland and Natural Resource Planning and Management
Research:
John's research examines how large herbivores, disturbance, and climate variability interact to shape rangeland ecosystems across spatial and temporal scales. He combines paleoecological records, biomarker chemistry, and ecological modeling to reconstruct past herbivore presence, fire regimes, vegetation dynamics, and carbon cycling. A central goal of his work is to understand how ecological heterogeneity supports persistence in rangeland systems, and how long-term perspectives can inform management and adaptation.