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.[1] Grimm received her Bachelor's degree in 1978 from Hampshire CollegeinMassachusetts.[2] Grimm earned her M.S. in 1980 and Ph.D. in 1985 from Arizona State University.[2] Grimm acknowledges key mentors throughout her life: Stan Gregory for inspiration as an undergraduate student at Hampshire College, Steve Carpenter for providing access to new opportunities, and Jim Collins for his advice once she got to Arizona State.[1]
Grimm has been a professor for the School of Life Sciences and a Senior Sustainability scientist at Arizona State University since 1990.[3] 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.[3] Grimm and her research group primarily focus on urban and stream ecosystems, examining the effects of climate variation and change on ecosystem function. The success of Grimm's research program is evident in the more than $25 million in research funds she has secured from the National Science Foundation. This funding has allowed Grimm to carry out research that has enhanced the understanding of how ecosystems function in light of disturbance - whether that is the chronic disturbance of urbanization or how the variability of flow in a semi-arid streams and how these shifts affect the cycling of critical elements (e.g. nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus).
Grimm worked as the director of Arizona State University's Undergraduate Mentorship in Environmental Biology program between 1993 and 1998 in an effort to increase the number of students in underrepresented groups interested in ecology.[5] 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.[5]
Nancy received the Arizona State University Faculty Achievement Award for her research in 2010. She received this award because of her research about urban ecology and studies which focus on the clash between human interaction and the environmental response.
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).[14]
Global climate change impacts in the United States[16]
Biogeochemical hot spots and hot moments at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems[17]
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[18]
Stream denitrification across biomes and its response to anthropogenic nitrate loading[19]
Temporal succession in a desert stream ecosystem following flash flooding[20]
Towards an ecological understanding of biological nitrogen fixation[21]
A new urban ecology: modeling human communities as integral parts of ecosystems poses special problems for the development and testing of ecological theory[24]
^McClain, Michael E.; Boyer, Elizabeth W.; Dent, C. Lisa; Gergel, Sarah E.; Grimm, Nancy B.; Groffman, Peter M.; Hart, Stephen C.; Harvey, Judson W.; Johnston, Carol A. (June 2003). "Biogeochemical Hot Spots and Hot Moments at the Interface of Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems". Ecosystems. 6 (4): 301–312. doi:10.1007/s10021-003-0161-9. ISSN1432-9840. S2CID12370754.
^Fisher, Stuart G.; Gray, Lawrence J.; Grimm, Nancy B.; Busch, David E. (February 1982). "Temporal Succession in a Desert Stream Ecosystem Following Flash Flooding". Ecological Monographs. 52 (1): 93–110. doi:10.2307/2937346. ISSN0012-9615. JSTOR2937346. S2CID35467781.
^Vitousek, Peter M.; Cassman, Ken; Cleveland, Cory; Crews, Tim; Field, Christopher B.; Grimm, Nancy B.; Howarth, Robert W.; Marino, Roxanne; Martinelli, Luiz (2002), "Towards an ecological understanding of biological nitrogen fixation", The Nitrogen Cycle at Regional to Global Scales, Springer Netherlands, pp. 1–45, doi:10.1007/978-94-017-3405-9_1, ISBN9789048160860
^Collins, James P.; Kinzig, Ann; Grimm, Nancy B.; Fagan, William F.; Hope, Diane; Wu, Jianguo; Borer, Elizabeth T. (2000). "A New Urban Ecology: Modeling human communities as integral parts of ecosystems poses special problems for the development and testing of ecological theory". American Scientist. 88 (5): 416–425. doi:10.1511/2000.5.416. JSTOR27858089.
