Research Interests:

Sustainable agriculture and profiling biological soil health

Impacts of cover crops, organic amendments, and deficit irrigation on soil microbial community composition and function

Biochar and plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria as soil amendments for agriculture

Microbial drivers of soil organic matter cycling

Interactive effects of above and below ground biodiversity

Development of tools to assay microbial functions at the microscale

 

Education:

2014          University of California, Riverside; major, Environmental Sciences; Ph.D.

2007          North Carolina State Univ.; major, Microbiology; B.S.

2006          University of Hawaii at Hilo, National Student Exchange; major, Microbiology 

 

Work Experience:

2018-Present	Soil Scientist, Water Management Research Unit, San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, USDA-ARS Parlier, CA
2014-2018	Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
2009-2014	Research Assistant, Environmental Sciences Department, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA
2003-2007	Undergraduate Researcher, Department of Microbiology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Selected Professional Affiliations and Service:

Member, Association for Women in Science

Member, Soil Science Society of America

Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science

Reviewer for journals (International Society of Microbial Ecology Journal, Nature Climate Change, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Geoderma, PlosONE, Frontiers in Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Scientific Reports, Rhizosphere, and Science of the Total Environment) and proposals (NSF-LTREB and CDFA-SCBP) 

 

Honors and Awards:

University of Oklahoma Vice President for Research Award for Exceptional Post-Doc Researcher (2017)

Institute of Environmental Genomics Award for Outstanding Post-Doctoral Researcher (2017)

Association of Women Soil Scientists Travel Award (2013)

EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowship (2010-2013)

National Science Foundation East Asia Pacific Summer Institute Fellowship (2011)

Hilda and George Liebig Environmental Sciences Summer Fellow (2010)

Homer and Daisy Chapman Scholarship (2010)

Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship (2010)