Paulette L. Ford is a Research Ecologist with the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She holds an M.S. in Biology from the University of New Mexico, in addition to a Ph.D. in Renewable Natural Resources from the University of Arizona. Her interests include the role of disturbance in structuring grassland and desert communities, and ecosystem resilience. Paulette's long-term (18-year) research uses an experimental framework to analyze the effects of season and frequency of fire on shortgrass steppe.