People

Graduate Students

Lindsey Ruhl

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Lindsey Ruhl surveys the microtopography of a flood-prone field (photo: J. Gorres)

investigates the effect of flooding on soil fertility (SARE grants). Visit Lindsey’s blog at http://floodedsoils.wordpress.com/

Her work was featured in the Women’s Agricultural Network Blog (http://blog.uvm.edu/wagn/2013/05/09/graduate-student-studies-soil-health-post-irene/)

 

 

 

Ryan Melnichuk

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Ryan Melnichuk investigates mulched beds at an I89 rest area for presence of Amynthas agrestis. (Photo: J. Gorres)

explores biogeochemical changes in forest caused by invasive earthworms (Start-up and Hatch funds). Ryan is presently writing his thesis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Austin

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Peter Austin at his Bella Farm research plots.

evaluates different composts as potential replacements for Chilean Nitrate (SARE grant). He is now working as the Farm Manager at East Shore Winery.

 

 

 

 

Undergraduate Students

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Paige and Andreia looking for earthworms on Burton Island, Lake Champlain, VT (http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/burton.htm)

Paige Cornell was surveying Vermont forest soils for earthworms  in the Summer of 2013 and is currently coding a geo-spatial data base showing the distribution of earthworm species in Vermont. For the surveys she had help from Paliza Shrestha who is now (since 01/01/2014) pursuing a PhD with Dr. Hurley at UVM’s Plant and Soil Science department. Andreia Fonseca who visited from Brazil in the Summer 2014 also helped with the surveys. Andreia is continuing her studies in Florida and hopes to return to Brazil in the Summer of 2015.

Naomi Cunningham, a 1st year student in Ecological Agriculture is assisting in composting and vermicomposting research.

 

Visits by Turkish Collaborators

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Dr. Korkmaz Bellitürk,

IMG_6178Professor of Soil Fertility at the Agricultural Faculty of Namık Kemal University in Tekirdağ, Turkey. Korkmaz visited our lab for 3 months ın 2011 and conducted an experiment on lignolytic enzyme stimulation by the Amynthas agrestis in commercial wood mulches. He also helped with data collection for an Amynthas agrestis demography project. Since then, Korkmaz has been back to develop joint earthworm related projects in Turkey. Korkmaz is returning to our lab in April 2014 for a 1 year investigation of vermicompost research with support from TUBITAK

 

Drs. Sevim Turan and Erol IMG_9450AYDOĞDU

of the Olive Research Station (http://www.zae.gov.tr/) in Izmir taking a coffee break between digging for earthworms and hosting my visit to their Institute. Sevim Turan visited UVM with Korkmaz Belliturk to develop joint US-Turkey project ideas in November 2012 supported by the College of Agriculture and Life Science at UVM.

 

Dr. Barış Tecimen

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Barış dressed for winter in the US.

of Istanbul University visited the lab in the Winter of 2013 for 3 months to work on questions of how the biogeochemistry of soil aggregates created by earthworms differed from those that had not been touched by earthworms. Specifically he addressed questions about the relationship among calcium and nitrogen processes and greenhouse gas emissions. He presented his work as a poster (https://scisoc.confex.com/crops/2013am/webprogram/Session11578.html) at the 2013 SSSA meetings in Tampa, Florida. This research was supported by TUBITAK and the College of Agriculture and Life Science at UVM. Barış  is also the founder and Editor in Chief of the Eurasian Journal of Forest Science (http://dergipark.ulakbim.gov.tr/ejejfs).

 

Super kids

C. J.

nerdie babyhelping in a grandsonly fashion with the more difficult nutrient management conversions that need to be done in lab… (Keine Sorge – no worries – he telecommutes from RI and doesn’t come to lab at all, really!).