People - Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance

Jim Elser

Director, Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance

Jim Elser is a limnologist and National Academy of Sciences member with research focused on the effect of key limiting nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus in lake ecosystems. He is a Research Professor and Distinguished Sustainability Scientist in ASU’s School of Life Sciences and School of Sustainability and serves as the Director for the Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance. He is also director of the Flathead Lake Biological Station of the University of Montana.

Matt Scholz

Senior Project Manager, Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance

Matt Scholz is a Research Professor in the Global Futures Lab and Senior Project Manager for the Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance. He also serves as a co-managing director of stakeholder engagement for the multi-institute Science and Technology Center for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS). His current work focuses on advancing phosphorus sustainability and translating technical science to policymakers and the public. His research links nutrient cycles to environmental challenges, including eutrophication, food system resiliency, and climate change.

Alicia Ellis

Faculty Affiliate, Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance

Alicia Ellis is a Professor of Practice and Director of the Master of Arts in Global Security program at Arizona State. She leads the university’s Agriculture and National Security effort, an interdisciplinary project examining food and agricultural systems as strategic infrastructure in an era of geopolitical competition. Her work bridges national security, economic statecraft, and supply chain resilience, with particular focus on how agricultural systems are increasingly targeted through gray-zone pressure, economic coercion, cyber vulnerabilities, and other non-kinetic forms of conflict.