Ecosystems & Environment

Portrait of Kerry Clark

Feb. 27, 2018

Kerry Clark

Kerry Clark was a soybean breeder from 1993-2012 and continues to work on the Feed the Future Soybean Innovation Lab, which is trying to improve soybean yields and production across sub-Saharan Africa. She runs a mechanization development and fabrication training team that includes three equipment designers from Ghana. This team has trained over 200 manufacturers in 12 African countries and has helped build service provision businesses so that small-holder farmers can have access to modern farming methods. Clark is also part of a multi-state collaboration working to improve available cover crop varieties for U.S. farmers. She teaches soil pedology, genesis,…

Hua Qin posing.

Feb. 26, 2018

Hua Qin

Educational background Ph.D., Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (Environmental and Resource Sociology), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009 M.S., Statistics. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007 M.S., Sociology, China Agricultural University, 2003 B.A., International Business and English, China Agricultural University, 2000 Courses taught ABM/NAT_R/PEA_ST/SOCIOL 1120: Population, Environment and Sustainability ABM/NAT_R/SOCIOL 4370/7370: Society, Environment and Natural Resources AAE/NAT_R/SOCIOL 8287: Seminar on Sustainable Development AAE/NAT_R 8510: Interdisciplinary Quantitative and Mixed Research Methods AAE 8436: Community, Natural Resources and Sustainability…

Mary Hendrickson

Feb. 26, 2018

Mary K. Hendrickson

Hendrickson is Professor in Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri and serves as Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security. She is a rural sociologist whose passion is making the world a better place through food. As Director of the ICFS, she focuses on building resilient, food secure communities across Missouri and beyond. Hendrickson has been a leading scholar on consolidation and concentration in the food and agriculture system, the impacts of such a system on farmers, workers and communities, and new ways of conceptualizing policy responses around anti-trust. She is also recognized for her work examining food…

Jan. 10, 2018

Kelly Nelson

Educational background Ph.D. Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University…

Debbie Finke

Jan. 9, 2018

Deborah Finke

Educational background Ph.D., University of Maryland M.S., University of Maryland B.S., Centre College Courses taught PLNT SCI 3710: Introductory Entomology PLNT SCI 4940: Internship in Plant Science PLNT SCI 4950: Undergraduate Research in Plant Science PLNT SCI 9810: Insect Ecology PLNT SCI 7970: Readings in Plant-Insect Interactions AFNR 2191: Italy Study Abroad: Re-thinking Food Security…

Kevin Bradley

Jan. 9, 2018

Kevin Bradley

Educational background Ph.D. Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science, Virginia Tech B.S. Agriculture, Ferrum College Courses taught PLNT_SCI 8420: Herbicide Mode of Action and Symptomology…

Dec. 15, 2017

Jeffrey Wood

Wood’s research focuses on ecosystem science and the exchanges of gases and heat between the biosphere and atmosphere. There is specific emphasis on better understanding the factors controlling fluxes of carbon, water, and nitrogen between natural or managed systems and the atmosphere. Educational background Ph.D., University of Guelph MASc, Dalhousie University BSc, Mount Allison University Courses taught ATM_SC 4400/7400: Microclimatology ATM_SC 4520/7520: Environmental Biophysics FOREST 2340: Tree Physiology FOREST 8620: Plant Water Relations…

Sonja Wilhelm Stanis

Dec. 15, 2017

Sonja A. Wilhelm Stanis

Educational background Ph.D., University of Minnesota Courses taught PRST 4250/7250: Parks, Health and Wellness PRST 8430: Social and Behavioral Research Methods PRST 2111: Park Planning and Design PRST 4340/7340: Recreation Land Management…

Joanna Whittier headshot in front of a waterfall

Dec. 15, 2017

Joanna (Jodi) Whittier

Whittier focuses on applied research typically at landscape scales to assess habitat condition and the association between condition and community composition. She works collaboratively with stakeholders from across the U.S. to identify conservation opportunities based on current and future conditions. Educational background Ph.D., Wildlife and Fisheries Ecology, Oklahoma State University…

Portrait of Michael Stambaugh

Dec. 15, 2017

Michael C. Stambaugh

Prior to becoming a scientist, Stambaugh worked as a forester for private industry and the federal government. Since 2010, his forestry research has received over $8 million in grant funding. He collaborates with the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Park Service, The Nature Conservancy, and multiple state natural resources organizations. He has been a National Geographic Explorer since 2010 and in 2023 was a Charles Bullard Fellow in Forest Research at Harvard Forest. Educational background Ph.D., University of Missouri Courses taught Forest Ecology Forest Health Advanced Forest Ecology…