Southern Nevada is an incredibly unique ecological hotspot for desert vegetation and wildlife. Ranging from Lake Mead to the peak of Mount Charleston, the Abella Applied Ecology Laboratory strives to understand and educate the community that calls the Mojave Desert home. Founded by Dr. Scott Abella, an accomplished Assistant Professor of Restoration Ecology, and assisted by Lindsay Chiquoine, a stalwart Research Associate and lab manager, the Abella Lab has continually provided research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at UNLV since 2009. The Abella Lab conducts restoration ecology and applied conservation science research informing conservation and management.

Everyone working in the lab is provided with ample opportunity to flourish in the paths of their own choosing (in the realm of current/applicable projects). In fact, many of the undergraduate students that work in the lab are not ecology majors at all. The Abella Lab has a goal of growing an undergraduate research program in order to serve as a platform for future careers. Undergraduates that participate in research gain irreplaceable skills in both laboratory and field settings that will ultimately set them apart from other college graduates.

One of the projects that the Abella Lab is currently engaged in is helping the community of Mount Charleston by understanding forest health through dendrochronology. Mt. Charleston contains incredibly old trees and forests unique in southern Nevada and indeed all of North America. The project’s goals are to provide natural history and forest ecology information to inform conservation efforts, while engaging with the local Mt. Charleston communities. Students participating in this project are not only gaining experience in ecology and dendrochronology, but they are also representing UNLV while learning to interface with the public, increasing the recognition of the Abella Applied Ecology Lab and UNLV, and, contributing to the long term conservation of the forest.

One of Scott Abella’s mission is to continue to provide undergraduates and graduates opportunities to gain research experience while giving back to the regional and local communities.

Get more information about the research the Abella Lab is involved in, the people that work in the lab, and for current opportunities.