Before starting my PhD studies, I had the pleasure of working here in the Eviner lab as a field and lab technician, helping with the lab’s long-term grassland studies. For my graduate research, I am interested in plant-soil relations, plant pathogens, soil organic matter and nutrient cycling, and watershed-scale processes. I am especially interested in riparian areas here in California. I studied biology at St. Olaf College in Minnesota and completed a masters degree at Iowa State University, where I researched soil carbon and nitrogen cycling in prairies and croplands. I also have work experience in the ag/biotech industry and the US DOI’s Office of Surface Mining.