The Soil Health & Ecosystem Ecology Lab Team
CHRISTINE SPRUNGER, PhD
Principal Investigator
sprunge5@msu.edu
Dr. Christine Sprunger is an Assistant Professor of Soil Health in the Department of Plant,
Soil, and Microbial Sciences and is based at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. Her research focuses on the intersection of agriculture and the environment, where she investigates how various agricultural management practices impact soil health and ecosystem services. In addition, Dr. Sprunger is interested in understanding how nematode communities can serve as key soil biological health indicators within agroecosystems. Lastly, Dr. Sprunger explores how climate change impacts rhizosphere dynamics and soil food webs.
Prior to joining MSU, Dr. Sprunger was an Assistant Professor of Soil Science and Rhizosphere Processes at Ohio State University from 2018-2022. Prior to starting a faculty position, Dr. Sprunger completed a National Science Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Biology at Columbia University, where she examined the relationship between soil carbon dynamics and crop productivity in small holder farming systems in Kenya and Tanzania. Dr. Sprunger holds a Ph.D. in Crop and Soil Sciences and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior from Michigan State University, and she received both a B.S. in Forest Resources and a B.A. in Program on the Environment from the University of Washington with a minor in Human Rights.
KATHERINE NAASKO, PhD
Postdoc
naaskoka@msu.edu
Katherine obtained her Ph.D. in Soil Science from Washington State University in Fall 2022. Originally, she is from Michigan and obtained her B.A. in Chemistry from Michigan State University in Spring 2016. Out in Washington State, she studied deep soil health in winter wheat cropping systems with respect to physical, chemical, and biological indicators as part of the NRCS Dynamic Soil Properties for Soil Health project. She also worked as a Distinguished Graduate Researcher at the DOE Pacific Northwest National Lab in the Soil Microbiome Science Focus Area for two years studying ecological interactions between the soil microbiome and irrigated perennial wheatgrasses through sequencing, metabolomics, lipidomics, and proteomics. She joined Dr. Sprunger's lab in Spring 2023 and is working on several on-going projects. Katherine is interested in agroecology with respect to how land management and climate change impacts microbial-driven soil carbon and nitrogen cycling in deep soil profiles. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring nature and playing with her two cats, Sapphire and Tony.
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AlexaSmychkovich, PhD
Postdoc
smychkov@msu.edu
Alexa obtained her Ph.D. in Plant and Soil Sciences from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts Amherst in Fall 2023. The primary focus of her graduate work was to improve the sustainability of cropping systems using cover crops and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, with a particular focus on soil health, nematode community composition, and cash crop yield and quality. Shortly after, she joined the Soil Health & Ecosystem Ecology lab, where she is involved in a collaborative project supported by the Environmental Defense Fund to evaluate the potential of commonly measured SOC pools for use as reliable indicators of soil carbon trajectories in agroecosystems. Her research interests are centered around the sustainable intensification of agricultural systems and the use of nematodes as biological indicators of soil health and function. In her spare time, Alexa enjoys mountain biking, spending time with friends, and hanging out with her cats, Obie and Masha.
TVISHA MARTIN, MS
PhD Student
mart2758@msu.edu
Tvisha Martin obtained her B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Toledo in May, 2019. Additionally, Tvisha obtained her M.S from The Ohio State University in May 2021 from Dr. Christine Sprunger’s Lab. Her Master’s thesis analyzed the effects of tillage and crop rotation on soil biological health through the quantification of nematode communities. Tvisha has since started her doctoral research in the Soil Health & Ecosystem Ecology lab where her research will aim to understand how nematode communities can serve as soil biological health indicators under induced drought. Additionally, Tvisha’s doctoral research will aim to understand how soil biological health changes over the growing season under systems with a varying management gradient. Her doctoral research will be performed at the Kellogg Biological Station Long-term Ecological Restoration Site. Tvisha's research interests include quantifying soil biological health through microbial sequencing and nematode communities, optimizing agricultural management under climate change, and the using quantitative modeling to understand the soil health framework. In her free time, Tvisha enjoys running, hiking, climbing, and reading a good book.
Rachel Drobnak,BS
MS Student
drobnakr@msu.edu
Rachel joined Dr. Sprunger’s lab as a Master’s student at the end of August 2023, after graduating with her B.S. in Crop & Soil Sciences from Michigan State University in May 2023. Her research will aim to determine the impacts of prairie strips on soil health through analysis of soil food web structures, nematode communities, and a variety of soil health indicators. This research will be conducted in the LTAR (Long-Term Agroecosystem Research) and LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) plots at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. Rachel has previously worked with MSU Extension as an Agriculture & Environment Team Assistant and as an undergraduate intern. She values research that benefits both farmers and the environment and intends to have a career in agricultural outreach. Rachel is from the Greater Cleveland area and enjoys reading, hiking, playing the carillon, and spending quality time with cats.
MEREDITH MANN, BA
Lab Manager
Meredith joined Dr. Sprunger's lab in the beginning of September 2019, after working for The Ohio State University's Soil Fertility Lab since 2017. As lab manager, she oversees lab operations and analyses, coordinates field research trials, and facilitates graduate and undergraduate research. Meredith is a northeast Ohio native with a B.A. in Geology from the College of Wooster. She enjoys working with the environment and in her free time can be found hiking, reading, and tending sheep.
HANNA KORN, BS
Research Assistant
Hanna obtained her B.S. in Biological Sciences from Western Michigan University in Spring 2022. She became a summer Lab Technician at WMU assisting research with Yellow Warblers, soil microbes, prairie strips and prairie restoration. She joined Dr. Sprungers lab in the beginning of September 2022 as a Research Assistant. She has a strong interest in botany and gardening. In her spare time she enjoys embroidering and making jewelry while watching the latest binge worthy tv show with her cat, Gaia.
EMILY PARKER, BS
Research Assistant
Emily obtained her B.S. in Zoology from Michigan State University in May 2022. She has worked in the Rain Exclusion eXperiment at the KBS LTER for two summers, both as an undergrad and a technician. She joined the lab as a part-time technician in December 2022. Emily is interested in how different aspects of the environment affect ecological interactions, both on small and large scales. In her free time, she enjoys tending to her houseplants, and snuggling up on the couch with her cats Ash and Moose.
SPRUNGER LAB 2023
KBS LTAR canola field - Hickory Corners, MI
From back left to front right:
Meredith Mann
Katherine Naasko
Christine Sprunger
Emily Parker
Ben Bridge
Hanna Korn
Elena Zakolski &
Tvisha Martin
FORMER LAB MEMBERS
Undergraduate student researchers
Christian Mammana, LTER REU 2021
Jacob Murray
Ainsley Lightcap
Allison Bunce
Abby Rees, LTER REU 2022
Graduate students
Elena Zakolski, REU 2023
Ben Bridge, URA 2023
Aiden Martin, Research Assistant 2024