Gloria Ambrowiak

gloria.ambrowiak@wisc.edu | Soil Science – PhD | Advisor: Francisco Arriaga

Hannah Anderson

handerson33@wisc.edu | Soil Science – MS | Advisor: Zac Freedman

Hannah obtained her BS in Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management from the University of Minnesota in May 2021. She is broadly interested in the role of beneficial soil-microbe-plant interactions in food system sustainability. Her MS research is investigating how novel organic crop varieties shape the soil microbiome via chemical excretion from their roots.

Abigail Augarten

abigail.augarten@wisc.edu | Agroecology – MS | Advisor: Matt Ruark

Michael Bekken

bekken@wisc.edu | Soil Science – PhD | Advisor: Doug Soldat

Michael studies the efficiency of resource (water, energy, fertilizer, pesticide) use on golf courses using a combination of approaches including ecosystem modeling, ecological risk assessment, and life cycle analysis. Michael is also interested in understanding which factors control resource use efficiency and how golf courses can become more resource efficient.

Claire Benning

clbenning@wisc.edu | Agroecology – MS | Advisor: Matt Ruark

Sumanta Chatterjee

schatterje22@wisc.edu | Soil Science – PhD | Advisor: Jingyi Huang

Sumanta received his MS in Agricultural Physics from Indian Agricultural research Institute (IARI), Delhi where he studied carbon and water cycles in semiarid cropping systems. Currently, for this PhD, he is investigating the role of soil and land surface properties in agriculture and ecosystem modeling including drought forecasting, soil water modeling, and wildfire-climate causality study across various scales.

Walker Crane

wcrane2@wisc.edu | Soil Science – MS | Advisor: Francisco Arriaga

Walker received his B.S. in Plant and Environmental Soil Science from Texas A&M University. He is interested in incorporating regenerative management practices to mitigate the agricultural impacts on the environment. He currently researches the effect of cover crop species and seeding rates on water quality and nutrient loading in dairy forage production systems.

Salvador Grover

salvador.grover@wisc.edu | Agroecology – MS | Advisor: Zac Freedman

Jie Hu

jhu279@wisc.edu | Soil Science – PhD | Advisor: Jingyi Huang

After graduating from Zhejiang University in China, Jie is interested in the coupled carbon-water cycle across scales. Her research focuses on the soil organic carbon change and the plant water use efficiecy in response to belowground processes.

Afona Irabor

irabor@wisc.edu | Plant Pathology – PhD | Advisor: Matt Ruark

Dana Johnson

dbjohnson7@wisc.edu | Soil Science – PhD | Advisor: Thea Whitman

Dana obtained her MS in Agroecology at UW-Madison and is now working on her PhD in soil science. She researches the impact of ecosystem disturbances on soil microbial communities and nutrient cycling.

Tanner Judd

tcjudd@wisc.edu | Soil Science – PhD | Advisor: Zac Freedman

Tanner is a first year PhD student in the Freedman Lab. He earned his BS at West Virginia University in Agroecology in 2020 and MS in plant and soil sciences at Oklahoma State University in May 20202 before coming to UW-Madison. Tanner’s current work evaluates the role of microbes in reducing carbon loss from agricultural systems under differing management strategies.

Mia Keady

mkeady@wisc.edu | Environment & Resources – PhD | Advisor: Thea Whitman

Mia Keady joined the Whitman lab in September 2021. She is interested in soil microbial ecology, soil organic matter persistence, and prairie restoration. Mia previously completed her master’s degree in Biology at George Mason University where she studied captive elephant gut microbiomes and health issues. Mia is originally from Nebraska where she earned her degree in Biology from Nebraska Wesleyan. In her free time Mia enjoys biking, reading, cooking, and time outdoors.

Mengmeng Luo

mluo47@wisc.edu | Soil Science & Agroecology – MS | Advisor: Thea Whitman

Mengmeng is pursuing a joint MS degree in Agroecology and Soil Science. She is working with Dr. Whitman to research the impact of repeated fire on PyOM and microbial communities.

Travis Miller

tjmiller4@wisc.edu | Soil Science – MS | Advisor: Doug Soldat

Daniela Orjuela Diaz

orjueladiaz@wisc.edu | Soil Science – PhD | Advisor: Carrie Laboski

Brooke Propson

bpropson2@wisc.edu | Soil Science – PhD | Advisor: Zac Freedman

Brooke is a PhD student and NSF Fellow in the Department of Soil Science. She is a biogeochemist and ecosystem ecologist interested in the impacts of altered anthropogenic activity on nutrient cycling and storage via changes in the soil microbial community. For her PhD, she is studying soil microbial community responses to changes in atmospheric deposition.

Ashmita Rawal

arawal@wisc.edu | Soil Science – PhD | Advisor: Matt Ruark

MS (2019), Dept. Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University
Research Area: Determination of on-farm soil health based indicators and optimization of soil physicochemical characteristics and microbiomes to enhance potato health and agriculture sustainability through soil management practices. My work mostly focuses on studying the nutrient dynamics in the plant body with the aim of improving the nutrient uptake efficiencies of potatoes and reducing the toxic inputs in the soil.
In my spare time, I enjoy cooking, writing, cleaning, and traveling.

Monica Schauer

mschauer2@wisc.edu | Agroecology – MS | Advisor: Matt Ruark

Monica graduated from UW-Stevens Point with a BS in biology and emphasis in plant biology and conservation. She is interested in using cover crops and other nutrient management strategies to improve soil health and optimize crop yields.

Caleb Stevens

cstevens5@wisc.edu | Soil Science – MS | Advisor: Jingyi Huang

Steven’s research interests include spatiotemporal modeling, ecological disruption, and human-soil interactions. in his free time, he enjoys training dogs, growing plants, and watching birds.

Anna Stevenson

arstevenson@wisc.edu | Soil Science – MS | Advisor: Alfred Hartemink

Anna received her B.S. in Soil Science from UW-Madison in 2021. She is broadly interested in patterns of soil physical and chemical properties across landscapes and how soils respond to human influence. Her research currently focuses on utilizing proximal soil sensors, digital soil mapping, and understanding changes in properties of sandy soils under different land uses. Outside of research she likes to bike, kayak and garden. 

Chee Thao

cthao44@wisc.edu | Soil Science – PhD | Advisor: Francisco Arriaga

Donnie Vineyard

dvineyard@wisc.edu | Civil & Environmental Engr. | Advisor: Phil Barak

Britta Welsch

bwelsch2@wisc.edu | Soil Science – MS | Advisor: Doug Soldat

Britta’s varied background in the environmental sciences and lab work has lead her to be interested in ecological questions surrounding the unifiers of natural phenomena, like soil and water. As a part of the Soldat lab, her focus is on urban soils, and how natural processes and cultural practices shape turfgrass success and ecology in Southern Wisconsin.

Jaimie West

Soil Science – PhD | Advisor: Thea Whitman

Jaimie is exploring microbial ecology in soils under disturbance (e.g. soil mixing, bioturbation by worms, tillage). She previously earned a joint Master’s degree in Soil Science and Environment & Resources (Nelson Institute) at UW-Madison in the Ruark lab.

Hendri Winanto

winanto@wisc.edu | Soil Science – MS | Advisor: Jingyi Huang

Nayela Zeba

nayelazeba@wisc.edu | Soil Science – PhD | Advisor: Thea Whitman

Before moving to Madison for my Ph.D., I obtained my M.S. in Earth Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore, India where I studied carbon flow in systems. I am currently investigating the role of soil microbes in degrading pyrogenic carbon that is produced during wildfires.