Nancy B. Grimm

Nancy B. Grimm is an American ecosystem ecologist and professor at Arizona State University. Grimm's substantial contributions to the understanding of urban and arid ecosystem biogeochemistry are recognized in her numerous awards. Grimm is an elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, Ecological Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Early life and education Grimm had no interest in pursuing a career or major in STEM, but rather something to do with foreign language. However, after her first class in ecology at Hampshire College she decided that she wanted to be an ecologist. Grimm received her Bachelor's degree in 1978 from Hampshire College in Massachusetts. Grimm earned her M.S. in 1980 and Ph.D. in 1985 from Arizona State University. She was the director of the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research Program for nearly two decades (1997-2016), which focuses on studying the social-ecological system of the metropolitan area of Phoenix. Currently, she directs a sustainability research network that looks into how urban areas respond to extreme weather events. The National Climate Assessment is a publication which is referred to by the public, federal agencies, and the National Academy of Sciences to learn about the changes that have already occurred as a result of climate change as well as what is expected as a result of climate change in the future. During her time at Arizona State University, she has been the mentor of 42 graduate scholars, 29 post-doctoral scholars, and 41 undergraduate research scholars. Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2008 Distinguished Scientist Award, American Institute of Biological Sciences, 2011 Director’s Award for Collaborative Integration, National Science Foundation, 2012 Fellow, Ecological Society of America, 2012 Eminent Ecologist, Kellogg Biological Station, June 2015 Inaugural William Mitsch Lecturer, University of Notre Dame, October 2015 Distinguished Ecologist, Marine Biological Laboratory Ecosystems Center, October 2015 Jenner Lecturer, University of North Carolina, April 2015 Eugene and Bill Odum Lecturer, University of Georgia, April 2015 Fellow, American Geophysical Union, 2017 Member, National Academy of Sciences, 2019 Distinguished Lecturer, Yale University, Yale School of the Environment, September 2023

Publications

Nancy Grimm has published over 110 peer reviewed publications and has been cited thousands of times. Below is a list of her top ten most cited articles (as of Fall 2018).

Global change and the ecology of cities Global climate change impacts in the United States Biogeochemical hot spots and hot moments at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems Integrated Approaches to Long-Term Studies of Urban Ecological Systems: Urban ecological systems present multiple challenges to ecologists—pervasive human impact and extreme heterogeneity of cities, and the need to integrate social and ecological approaches, concepts, and theory Stream denitrification across biomes and its response to anthropogenic nitrate loading Temporal succession in a desert stream ecosystem following flash flooding Towards an ecological understanding of biological nitrogen fixation Socioeconomics drive urban plant diversity A distinct urban biogeochemistry? A new urban ecology: modeling human communities as integral parts of ecosystems poses special problems for the development and testing of ecological theory