Sustainable Biodiversity Fund

Sustainable Biodiversity Fund is sponsored by Cornell University (Administered by) - various sources. The Sustainable Biodiversity Fund supports innovative research on pressing questions in protecting biodiversity.

Sustainable Biodiversity Fund | Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability Sustainable Biodiversity Fund | Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability Sustainable Biodiversity Fund Innovation for Impact Fund The 2030 Project: Fast Grants The 2030 Project: Climate Solutions Fund Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research Grants Postdoctoral Fellowships Application Sustainable Biodiversity Fund Semlitz Family Sustainability Fellows Protecting Earth’s Biodiversity The Sustainable Biodiversity Fund supports innovative research on the most pressing questions in protecting biodiversity.

Cornell graduate students from all disciplines are encouraged to apply to pursue interdisciplinary projects that will help preserve biodiversity, its global ecosystem services, and four billion years of irreplaceable evolutionary history.

Cornell graduate students The 2026 Cycle Is Closed : Seventeen SBF recipients from Biomedical & Biological Sciences, Development Studies, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Microbiology, Natural Resources & the Environment, Neurobiology & Behavior, Plant Biology, and Soil & Crop Sciences Jenna Brewer (Natural Resources and the Environment) Improving Tropical Forest Restorations by Leveraging Pest Control Services by Birds Forest restoration is a key strategy for mitigating climate change, conserving biodiversity, and enhancing ecosystem services such as pest control.

However, wildlife responses to restoration remain variable and poorly understood across spatial scales. This research examines how habitat structure, microclimate, and landscape positioning influence birds and the pest control services they provide in restored forests of Costa Rica’s AmistOsa Biological Corridor, in collaboration with local NGO Finca Cántaros.

By elucidating multi-scale habitat processes operating within restored systems, this study will inform land management recommendations that improve forest restoration outcomes in a rapidly changing climate.

Leah Crenshaw (Natural Resources and the Environment) Understanding the Role of Landscape Context in the Use of Shade-Grown Coffee for Avian Conservation In Panama’s Chiriquí Province, this research examines how surrounding landscapes influence bird ecology in shade‑grown coffee farms—agroforestry systems that can support biodiversity and rural livelihoods.

Working with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, the study integrates farm‑level surveys, landscape‑scale point counts, and GIS analyses to assess multi‑scale bird-habitat relationships. The aim is to identify conservation‑relevant factors beyond canopy cover and tree density that improve sustainability for both producers and wildlife.

Findings will be shared through scientific publications, farmer reports, and a shade‑tree catalog, ensuring direct application to sustainable tropical agriculture and informing bird‑friendly farming practices across Panama.

Katie Debbas (Plant Biology) Nursery Seeds in the Wild: Quantifying Human Induced Gene Flow in California’s Native Plant Populations This project addresses risks of maladaptation in wild plant populations from human‑mediated dispersal of cultivated native genotypes in California.

Using genome sequencing of two charismatic species (California poppy, baby blue eyes), researchers will compare cultivated and wild genetic diversity and assess introgression rates using data from the California Conservation Genomics Project. Greenhouse and drought‑response trials will evaluate the fitness consequences of hybridization.

By clarifying how seed sourcing and gardening practices affect locally adapted traits, the research aims to inform growers, conservationists, and the public about biodiversity risks and improve native plant conservation in wild ecosystems.

Hannah DeFelice (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Biodiversity as a Driver of Forest Methane Cycling: Integrating Tree Traits, Microbes, and Ecosystem Function Advisor: Christine Goodale Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, but the role of forest biodiversity in methane flux remains unclear.

This project investigates how tree species diversity, anatomical traits, and microbial communities influence methane production and oxidation across hydrologic gradients at Sapsucker Woods, New York. Combining chamber‑based gas flux measurements with microbial DNA sequencing, the study will assess how traits such as bark morphology and wood anatomy mediate methane transport and transformation.

Results will advance understanding of biodiversity’s climate‑regulation functions, improve global methane budget estimates, and integrate species composition into forest management strategies for maximizing conservation and climate mitigation benefits.

Jarrod Fyie (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Mechanisms of Host Shifts: Insights Into the Origins and Sustainability of the Megadiverse Insect Herbivores This study explores how dietary specialist insects adapt to novel, chemically distinct host plants, focusing on tiger moths (Arctiinae).

By comparing species adapted and non‑adapted to a specific plant toxin, researchers will combine metabolic assays and transcriptomics to identify detoxification enzymes upregulated during early host transitions. Phylogenetic analysis will trace functional mutations in these enzymes across independent host‑shift events.

Findings will enhance understanding of biodiversity origins, the role of detoxification in dietary adaptation, and conservation strategies for species threatened by habitat loss yet benefiting from introduced hosts, linking evolutionary ecology with global change biology.

Daphne Garcia (Microbiology) Floral Nectar-Dwelling Acinetobacter Diversity and Evolution in Temperate, Seasonal Pollination Systems Nectar-dwelling Acinetobacter bacteria are present in wildflowers worldwide, where they influence nectar chemistry and pollinator foraging. However, Acinetobacter’s evolutionary dynamics across flowering seasons remain poorly understood.

Garcia’s project examines how winter bottlenecks affect the diversity and evolution of two floral Acinetobacter species. Seasonal sampling in central New York and genome sequencing will track bacterial diversity before and after winter, across the flowering season, and between host plants. Comparisons with Mediterranean populations will then assess phylogenetic signals of genetic drift.

This research will be the first to quantify seasonal impacts on floral microbiomes in temperate ecosystems, with implications for pollination ecology, plant fitness, and sustainable management of agricultural and natural plant–pollinator systems.

Grace Gonzalez (Biomedical and Biological Sciences) Peeling Back the Label: eDNA Metabarcoding to Identify Hidden Seafood Species in Pet Foods and to Assess Implications for Food Security, Conservation, and Public Health Advisor: Kathryn Fiorella and Laura Goodman This project uses environmental DNA metabarcoding to identify seafood species in 30-40 top-selling dog and cat foods, addressing critical gaps in labeling transparency, sustainability claims, and conservation risk.

A curated DNA reference library will be created from public databases and supplemental sequencing. Pet food samples will undergo targeted mitochondrial DNA amplification to enable robust identification despite processing. Data will be cross-referenced with the IUCN Red List, CITES, and fishery sustainability indices.

Findings will inform sustainable sourcing, improve labeling accuracy, and mitigate biodiversity and public health risks from opaque seafood supply chains in the global pet food industry.

Kirsten Keleher (Neurobiology and Behavior) Understanding the Importance of Avian Pollination in Saguaros Advisor: Irby Lovette and Rob Raguso The saguaro cactus supports diverse groups of pollinators and is largely pollinated by birds, despite lacking typical bird-associated traits.

Focusing on white-winged doves and Gila woodpeckers, this study examines which floral traits are important in attracting different bird species with variable sensory systems. Fieldwork during the 2026 flowering period will quantify visitation behavior, sensory responses to floral traits, and pollination trends over two decades.

Results will illuminate the saguaro’s reproductive ecology in a changing, urbanizing Sonoran Desert, highlighting pollinator diversity’s role in cactus reproduction and informing conservation strategies for this keystone species and its complex pollination network.

Amina Mohamed (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Scaling Up: How Fish Ontogeny and Evolution Shape Ecosystem Nutrient Flux Advisors: Andres Lopez-Sepulcre and Swanne Gordon In the natural world, consumers drive nutrient cycling by selectively taking up, storing, and releasing nutrients that shape ecosystem productivity.

This project investigates how ontogenetic development and demographic structure influence nutrient fluxes in Poecilia reticulata (guppies), a globally invasive fish with variable development rates. Guppies from high- and low-predation environments will be raised on different diets across developmental stages to quantify phosphorus assimilation, allocation to bone and RNA, and excretion rates.

Understanding how invasive species alter nutrient dynamics through their rapid life histories is critical for predicting ecosystem impacts in a changing world. Bright Olunusi (Development Studies) What Makes Human–Elephant Conflict Persist or Transform? Testing Behavioral and Institutional Thresholds in Nigeria’s Omo Forest Reserve In Nigeria’s Omo Forest Reserve, African forest elephants face increasing conflict with farmers.

This project examines the behavioral and governance thresholds that determine whether conflict escalates or shifts toward coexistence. Fieldwork will occur in two phases. The first phase uses surveys and focus group discussions to assess tolerance, trust in institutions, risk perception, and deterrence strategies.

The second phase implements structured behavioral games to evaluate cooperation and decision-making under environmental stress. Findings will refine an agent-based model that simulates human–elephant interactions and identifies conditions that make coexistence more or less likely.

Jaime Ortiz (Natural Resources and the Environment) Uncovering Sex-Linked Drivers of Population Structure in Endangered Galápagos Sea Cucumbers Advisor: Nina Therkildsen Despite conservation measures, the endangered brown sea cucumber (Isostichopus fuscus) has not recovered from overfishing.

Genome-wide studies reveal unexpected population structure unexplained by geography, prompting investigation into sex-linked genetic variation as a potential driver. Sequencing 20 sexed individuals, the study will identify sex-determination genes, assess sex-specific differentiation, and reanalyze previous data to untangle adaptive versus sex-linked variation.

Results will inform conservation units, broodstock selection, and management strategies that account for sex ratios, supporting recovery of this keystone Galápagos species while building local conservation genomics capacity.

Quang Pham (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Evolution in the Extreme: Leveraging Transcriptomics to Unveil Water-Conserving Mechanisms in Desert-Adapted Anurans Anurans (frogs and toads) face heightened desiccation risks due to their permeable skin, but some species, like the desert-dwelling plains spadefoot toad (Spea bombifrons), thrive in arid habitats by evolving adaptive water-conserving strategies.

Aquaporins (AQPs), water-channel proteins with diverse, tissue-specific roles, are hypothesized to facilitate this resilience but remain understudied in aridity-adapted species. Through transcriptomics, this project will identify key AQP genes in S. bombifrons, analyze tissue-specific regulatory patterns, and assess gene expression evolution across vertebrate groups.

Findings will advance understanding of water regulation mechanisms and provide essential insights into how amphibians adapt to climate change, informing conservation strategies globally.

Zulfirman Rahyantel (Natural Resources and the Environtment) Navigating Tensions in Indonesia Marine Conservation Advisor: Steven Mana‘oakamai Johnson The rapid expansion of area-based marine conservation in Indonesia to meet the global biodiversity framework 30 by 30 target has created tensions and reshaped marine areas into negotiated and contested spaces.

This research examines political, epistemic, institutional, and conservation–livelihood tensions in Indonesian marine conservation, focusing on the Buano and Banda Islands Marine Protected Areas in Maluku. It will investigate how power dynamics, the integration of customary systems, community engagement, and institutional arrangements shape marine conservation governance.

Using marine ethnography, participatory mapping, observations, interviews, and document review, the study will contribute to navigating tensions and promoting equitable and sustainable marine conservation governance.

Nazir Sharifi (Soil and Crop Sciences) Harnessing Biodiversity for Weed Management: The Role of Seed Predators in Suppressing Herbicide-Resistant Weeds This project evaluates how natural seed predators can suppress herbicide-resistant weeds, supporting biodiversity conservation and agricultural productivity.

Field experiments in Aurora, New York (2026-27), will compare weed seed predation and predator biodiversity in mulched versus bare-soil systems. Five problematic weed species will be studied, using pitfall trapping and exclosure cages to analyze predator activity, community composition, and seed removal rates. Structural equation modeling will link habitat structure to predator biodiversity and weed suppression.

Findings will guide conservation-based weed management strategies, reducing herbicide use, enhancing ecosystem resilience, and promoting sustainable farming across Northeastern agroecosystems while addressing regional food security.

Coral del Mar Valle Rodriguez (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Understanding Drought Sensitivity Through Stomatal and Hydraulic Diversity in Puerto Rico Tropical forests are vital for biodiversity and climate regulation, but their resilience as carbon sinks is increasingly threatened by intensifying drought.

This project investigates how tropical tree species with differing successional strategies adjust their intrinsic water use efficiency during short- and long-term droughts. Using the Luquillo Throughfall Exclusion Experiment in Puerto Rico, foliar carbon analyses and sapflow measurements will assess species-level stomatal regulation under water stress.

Findings will illuminate species-specific drought adaptation strategies and inform how functional diversity supports tropical forest resilience and carbon stability, aiding conservation and climate change mitigation efforts globally.

Rachel Whiteside (Natural Resources and the Environment) From Fields to Forest: Mapping Successional Change in Himalayan Post-Agricultural Landscapes Advisor: Ginger Allington Mountain ecosystems in the Indian Himalayan Region are vital biodiversity reservoirs and provide essential resources for rural communities. Increasing rural out-migration has led to widespread farmland abandonment, threatening local resilience and food security.

This project studies abandoned farmlands in Uttarakhand to understand their ecological trajectories—whether they remain grasslands or transition to forests—over a 15-year period using field surveys, remote sensing, and deep learning.

By mapping plant community composition and assessing ecosystem service potential, the research will illuminate successional dynamics, inform biodiversity conservation strategies, and evaluate the capacity of abandoned lands to support livelihoods in this rapidly changing region.

Ella Zhao (Neurobiology and Behavior) Unraveling the Speciation Phenotype: How Postcopulatory Sexual Selection Drives Reproductive Trait Divergence This study explores the role of postcopulatory sexual selection, specifically sperm competition, in driving reproductive trait divergence in the rapidly speciating Hawaiian crickets of the genus Laupala.

Male crickets exhibit substantial interspecific variation in courtship behavior, including differences in the number of nuptial gifts (spermatophores) produced. Using mating trials, proteomic analysis of spermatophores, and morphological measurements of reproductive organs, this project will assess sperm competition intensity and characterize reproductive trait divergence.

By uncovering evolutionary mechanisms behind species diversification, the research advances understanding of sexual selection while contributing to the conservation of endemic Hawaiian cricket species threatened by habitat loss.

Eighteen SBF recipients from Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Natural Resources & the Environment, Global Development, Microbiology, Neurobiology & Behavior, SIPS Soil & Crop Sciences, and SIPS Horticulture Yareli Alvarez (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Defense Portfolios in Ants: Evolutionary Insights to Sustain Biodiversity Organisms often use multiple defenses to avoid predation, yet how these defenses interact within a single species remains unclear.

This project examines the defense portfolio of the Acorn Ant, Temnothorax longispinosus, to explore how defensive traits evolve to counter different predation stages. Specifically, it asks: (1) What defenses comprise the complete defense portfolio of T. longispinosus and are certain defenses adapted to specific predation stages?

(2) How do individuals adjust their behavioral defenses when encountering predators, competitors, and neutral organisms? Through field observations and behavioral experiments, this study will characterize the full suite of defenses in T. longispinosus and assess how strategies shift under ecological pressures.

Findings will provide insight into the role of behavioral plasticity in social insects, advancing our understanding of adaptive responses to environmental challenges and the ecological factors that contribute to sustaining biodiversity.

Teagan Baiotto (Entomology) A Trait-based Approach to Unraveling the Status of North American Wild Bee Communities in Agricultural Landscapes Advisor: Laura Melissa Guzman Wild bees are crucial pollinators for many crops, yet agricultural intensification can act as an environmental filter, potentially excluding species unable to cope with landscape changes and management practices.

This filtering process can lead to significant shifts in bee community composition, with implications for biodiversity and crop pollination services. Trait-based ecology offers a powerful framework to understand community assembly processes, and how agricultural intensification has altered the composition of wild bee communities.

This project will assess how ecological traits mediate wild bee species’ persistence in agricultural landscapes in two ways. First, we will assess how traits influence pesticide exposure through extensive field collections in California’s Central Valley.

Second, we will reconstruct wild bee distributional trends across North America from 1960 to present, evaluating which species have been filtered out and whether these changes are structured by phylogeny and species traits.

Jenna Brewer (Natural Resources and the Environment) Improving Tropical Forest Restorations by Leveraging Pest Control Services Provided by Birds Forest restoration is widely recognized as a key strategy for mitigating climate change, conserving biodiversity, and enhancing ecosystem services, such as pest control.

However, restoration outcomes are often variable, and wildlife responses are not fully understood especially across multiple spatial scales. Brewer’s research aims to address this gap by investigating how habitat structure, microclimate, and landscape context influence birds and the pest control services they deliver to restored forests in Costa Rica’s AmistOsa biological corridor in collaboration with a local NGO, Finca Cántaros.

Brewer will use nets to exclude foraging birds from tree seedlings and saplings and experimentally test how habitat structure, microclimate, and landscape position affect avian pest control services.

By elucidating multi-scale habitat processes that operate within restored systems, this study will provide insight for the development of land-management recommendations that improve the likelihood of achieving a wide range of forest restoration goals amid a rapidly changing climate.

Leah Crenshaw (Natural Resources and the Environment) Landscape-scale influences on the value of shade-coffee to bird comunities in the Panamanian Highlands To recover bird populations amid global crises threatening human health and well-being, we must identify conservation solutions that meet both social and environmental needs.

This challenge is particularly acute for species that rely on working landscapes that also support human livelihoods. Fortunately, agroforestry ecosystems, in which crops like coffee are grown beneath trees, offer a win-win solution by providing important habitat for birds while supporting rural economies.

Most research on bird conservation in shade-coffee systems to date has emphasized the importance of farm-level characteristics, such as canopy cover or number of trees; we poorly understand how landscapes surrounding coffee farms can influence the ecology and ultimate success of individual birds.

To fill this knowledge gap and support further sustainable coffee agriculture, Crenshaw works with farmers in Chiriquí, Panama to investigate the effects of shade-grown coffee and the surrounding landscape matrix on the individual condition and mixed species flocking behavior of birds.

Natasha Djuric (Soil and Crop Sciences) Managing plant competition to increase biodiversity in intercropped agroecosystems Advisor: Matthew Ryan and Antonio DiTommaso Reliance on input-intensive monocultures and the associated landscape simplification has significantly reduced biodiversity.

Intercropping, the growing of two or more crop species in the same area at the same time, could reduce pests, regenerate soil health, improve yields, and promote biodiversity. However, optimizing intercropping systems requires a complex understanding of how crops share resources and arrange themselves in space. Functional-structural plant (FSP) models are being developed to try to predict this behavior.

However, the models lack specification for weed species identity or their functional traits. Yet, weed communities can dramatically affect crop success by modifying competition dynamics and ecosystem services. In a field experiment, I aim to determine how weed functional traits are linked to the performance of cereal-legume intercrops to optimize the FSP model.

Ultimately, this research will enable the identification of intercropping systems that allow for both a high weed diversity and high crop yield.

Isabella Errigo (Natural Resources and the Environment) Tracing fish migrations and biodiversity losses using community science in the Ecuadorian Amazon Advisor: Peter McIntyre and Jose Andres The headwaters of the Amazon bring life-sustaining nutrients from the Andes to the diverse plant, animal, and human communities lower in the basin.

Although recognized for its global importance, the area faces threat from increasing human expansion and climatic anomalies. The resulting changes to river ecosystems and their biota jeopardize both human livelihoods and the world’s crown jewel of biodiversity.

To understand the present biodiversity of the Amazonian headwaters, we will partner with a kayaking-oriented school, Yaku Churi, that connects Indigenous youth to their culture and waters. During their weekly runs down a set of six rivers, school students will collect regular environmental DNA and chemistry samples across a one-year period. The results will provide unprecedented insights into fish migrations and environmental dynamics.

This exciting collaboration between Cornell, USFQ, and Yaku Churi Kayak School applies 21st century technologies Traditional Ecological Knowledge to understand seasonal and spatial dynamics of remote river ecosystems in the Amazon Basin of Ecuador. Together, we will break new ground in environmental science while empowering Indigenous youth to connect with and conserve their home waters.

Jaleigh Goben (Earth and Atmospheric Sciences) Quantifying Population Body Size and Density From the Geohistorical Record: A Novel Approach Using Oyster Death Assemblages Advisor: Gregory P. Dietl Oysters support a multi-billion-dollar harvest industry, they buffer shorelines from erosion and sea-level rise and they improve water quality via filtration.

However, due to climate change, disease and human pressures, oysters and their benefits are disappearing. By 2011, the world lost an estimated 85% of its oyster reefs , including significant declines in Eastern Oysters along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Jaleigh Goben, a doctoral student in earth and atmospheric sciences, is studying changes in oyster populations over time in Florida’s Guana River.

She has collected 5-10 footlong core samples of oysters buried within the reefs and plans to use geochronology to estimate how old the shells and reefs are. Goben will then reconstruct body sizes and densities of past oyster populations to establish geohistorical baselines and better understand how populations have changed over the last several decades to centuries.

This fills a critical information gap because oyster monitoring data only exists since 2014. Goben will apply these oyster metrics to quantify how much filtration oysters were able to provide over that time, which will inform restoration efforts at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve to improve local water quality in the Guana River.

Aalayna Green (Natural Resources and the Environment) “How Many of Us Had to Die for That Elephant? ”: An Environmental Justice Analysis of Conservation Violence in Chobe National Park, Botswana Green’s research examines the gendered and racialized implications of conservation violence in Chobe National Park, Botswana, a part of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.

The use of violent conservation security strategies, such as Botswana’s shoot-to-kill policy, has profound (in)direct effects on people and wildlife. The impacts are largely shaped by systemic and social processes of racialization and gendering, which ultimately influence human-environment relationships.

Through interviews with key stakeholders and countermapping socio-ecological borders, Green seeks to propose alternative conservation solutions that are care-oriented and gender-aware.

Azwad Iqbal (Natural Resources and the Environment) Leveraging museum collections to investigate the rapid evolution of invasive American shad Advisor: Nina Overgaard Therkildsen Invasive species constitute a significant threat to global biodiversity, threatening native species and ecosystem function.

While there have been studies on the ecological impacts of invasive species, it is also essential to study invasions evolutionarily, as invaders must evolve rapidly to new environments. Understanding the genomic mechanisms underlying these evolutionary shifts can help inform management interventions and provide insight into the mechanics of invasion success.

While DNA sequencing of contemporary samples can highlight evolutionary changes in invasive lineages, the tempo and mechanisms underlying these changes can remain unclear without historical data. In this study, I propose leveraging museum specimens across major institutions to study the evolution of invasive American shad (Alosa sapidissima), a North American fish.

With this historical genomic data, I aim to parse the extent to which population bottlenecks have shaped the genetic diversity of invasive shad and whether genomic variants important for rapid adaptation were present in founding individuals. Morgan Irons (Soil and Crop Sciences) Holdfast!

Understanding Bacterial Organic Adhesive Mechanochemistry in Soil Ecosystems Advisor: Johannes Lehmann Microbial diversity is essential for soil resilience under climate change, as the soil microbiome drives key biogeochemical processes. Climate change is predicted to intensify environmental fluctuations in soil, potentially disrupting microbial communities and their functions.

Understanding how microorganisms establish and protect themselves is crucial to mitigate these impacts. Many microbes form biofilms using extracellular polymeric substances, with such formation involving a reversible attachment phase followed by irreversible adhesion. However, the mechanisms behind this irreversible adhesion remain poorly understood.

This research analyzes microbial adhesion and biofilm formation using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM). The study examines the “holdfast” adhesive of Caulobacter crescentus, a model bacterial species. AFM will measure bacterial adhesion forces across different soil surfaces, while STEM will provide insights into chemical bonding and morphology at the adhesion interface.

These findings will inform strategies to preserve microbial diversity and enhance soil resilience. Juan Pablo Jordán (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Impact of Seed Chemical Treatment and Soil Origin on Maize-rhizosphere Interactions and Resistance to Herbivores Agricultural production systems across the world are experiencing increased demand for higher yields and nutritious produce.

To meet demands, industrialized agriculture has intensified their practices by use of external energy inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides. Chemical pesticides provide crops protection against prevalent antagonists like pathogens and herbivores, but in most cases come at a great environmental cost.

Seed chemical treatments are inconspicuous pesticides applied to the seed’s outer coating comprising a highly toxic mixture of fungicides, nematicides, and insecticides. Little is known regarding the effects of seed chemical treatments on plant-soil microbiome, specifically their non-target effects on organism that mediate crucial plant life functions like arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

My research will assess the interactive effects of seed chemical treatments and field soil origin on: maize microbial rhizosphere dynamics, plant secondary metabolism, and subsequent resistance to herbivory. These insights will be crucial to inform adoption and development of synergistic relations in agricultural landscapes.

Augustus Pendleton (Microbiology) High-resolution Genomics to Assess the Assembly of Bacterial Populations and Communities in a Freshwater Estuary Freshwater estuaries are essential habitats where rivers flow into large lakes. Once such estuary, the St. Louis River Estuary (SLRE), flows into Lake Superior between Duluth, MN and Superior, WI.

The SLRE holds ecological relevance as a fish and bird nursery, economic value as an active port, and features culturally important areas for recreation. The healthy functioning of this system relies on the taxonomic and metabolic diversity of its aquatic microbial communities. However, climate change, habitat destruction, and pollution can all disrupt normal microbial community function.

In this study, I use long-read metagenomics to profile microbial communities in the SLRE. These data will allow us to quantify the stochastic and deterministic processes which structure biodiversity in the estuary, and provide insights into the ecological conditions which predict negative microbial outcomes, such as harmful cyanobacterial booms.

Lara Roeven (Global Development) The Impact of Biocultural-Heritage Conservation on Farmer-to-Farmer Seed Exchange and Social Inequality in the Peruvian Andes Advisor: Rachel Bezner Kerr Throughout her dissertation project she explores agrobiodiversity conservation, farmers’ seed systems, and social differentiation in Peru.

States and international organizations have historically conserved crop varieties ex situ to further crop development. Since the mid-20th century, the Peruvian state and an international research-for-development organization support the in situ conservation of native potato varieties and have carried out potato repatriation projects in Cusco, Peru.

The goal of these efforts is to conserve potato agrobiodiversity and farmers’ cultural heritage. This research project draws on semi-structured interviews and participant observation to explore the ways gender and socioeconomic status shape agrobiodiversity conservation projects in which ex situ and in situ strategies are combined, and how these projects affect farmers differently based on their social identities.

Seongmin Shin (Global Development) From Shea Trees to Biodiversity Markets: Using LiDAR to Support Conservation in Uganda Seongmin Shin is interested in inclusive and equitable market-based initiatives that drive local development and address climate change. Biodiversity credits have emerged as a promising financial instrument that incentivizes environmental and biodiversity outcomes.

However, traditional observation methods face challenges including oversimplification, Imprecision, inconsistency, etc. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) provides accurate biodiversity assessments with three-dimensional models of vegetation. Seongmin aims to utilize Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) technology to improve biodiversity assessments in Shea tree (Vitellaria paradox) dominated ecosystems in Otuke District of Uganda.

His study will explore diverse ecosystems across natural shea forests, shea plantations, agroforestry, regenerated forest areas, and degraded forests. Eventually, this research will produce high-resolution data on vegetation structure, canopy complexity, and species richness, which will serve as important metrics for biodiversity credit systems.

Yejin Son (School of Integrative Plant Science/ Horticulture) Enhancing Agricultural Sustainability by Unlocking Plant and Microbial Genetic Diversity Advisor: Jenny Kao-Kniffin Yejin’s project aims to enhance the sustainability of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) production systems by focusing on biodiversity.

Despite being a major crop in the U.S., domestic production often falls short of consumer demand, leading to heavy reliance on imports. Modern breeding practices have reduced genetic diversity, making tomatoes more vulnerable to pests, diseases, and climate change.

To address these challenges, Yejin will optimize host-microbiome interactions to increase genetic diversity in breeding programs, preserving and utilizing beneficial microorganisms. This research will be informed by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and microbiome- wide association studies (MWAS).

By leveraging these advanced techniques, the project aims to identify key genetic loci and microbial markers linked to beneficial agronomic traits, ultimately contributing to more resilient and sustainable tomato production systems. This approach will help mitigate the impacts of climate change and reduce dependency on imports, ensuring a stable supply of tomatoes for U.S. consumers.

Helen Stec (Neurobiology and Behavior) From Preferences to Paternity: The Impact of Female Preferences on Maintaining Male Diversity Female mate preferences are a driving force behind the diversification and fixation of male traits. While classic models often assume fixed preferences, leading to strong directional selection, recent research has highlighted variation in female preferences both between populations and individuals.

If male diversity within a species is maintained through variation in female preferences then females in species with high male diversity should exhibit highly variable mate preferences. This study leverages Poecilia parae, a species with multiple male morphs, to explore the role of female preference in maintaining genetic diversity.

The nature of individual female preference—whether variable or fixed—requires different mechanisms to sustain diversity within populations. If preferences change over time, male diversity could be maintained with fewer females. However, if preferences are fixed, larger populations with diverse preferences may be necessary to support male diversity.

Understanding the natural dynamics maintaining diversity is essential for elucidating the mechanisms that sustain biodiversity. Stephanie Tran (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Social Modulation of Thermal Stress in Urban Areas Urban freshwater systems are disproportionally vulnerable to climate change, yet some invasive fish seem to persist in the face of increasing temperatures.

Tran focuses on how behavioral plasticity aids adaptation in rapidly changing environments. This can be an important adaptation under changing temperatures as it allows organisms to adjust on short timescales.

To study this, she will disentangle the sex-specific roles of social behavior and genetic adaptation to thermal stress in an invasive freshwater fish, the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), in urban and non-urban populations. This research will ultimately allow us to make better predictions on how some species will respond to climate change.

Maddie Worth (Entomology) Crane Flies as Potential Pollinators: Investigating Diversity and Evolutionary Relationships in Tropical Ecosystems of Costa Rica Advisor: Jason Dombroskie Pollination is essential for life on Earth, promoting ecosystem health, food security, and biodiversity. While bees are often viewed as the most important pollinators, there are many groups of flies that are lesser-known successful pollinators. Crane