Team

Carson is from St. Louis, Missouri and graduated with a BS in Plant Sciences from the University of Missouri. He is looking to use his background in plant science to ask questions about how plant-soil interactions effect soil carbon building. Carson is a Purdue sports fan and even made the trek to West Lafayette from Missouri almost every home football weekend growing up. Carson is proud to be the next boilermaker in his family as he works on his master's degree in our lab.

Krista is from Honduras, the heart of Central America. She graduated from Zamorano University as an Agricultural Engineer. Krista is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Agroecology with a focus on soil health of various organic systems. She is particularly interested in how soil health and productivity of organic systems can be finetuned through ecological intensification (cover cropping, reduced tillage, bio-inoculation, etc.). She likes travelling and attending conferences to learn new knowledge.

Binod is originally from Nepal and he obtained his master’s degree in integrated Agricultural Science from Texas State University in 2023. At Purdue, he aspires to enhance knowledge and skills in soil and crop science and will focus on assessing the holistic approach for fertility sources in corn production systems, utilizing the concepts of nutrient management strategies, microbial communities, soil health indicators, and socio-environmental impacts. He hopes to gain valuable insights into sustainable soil fertility management practices. Outside of academics, he loves to watch movies, travel, and play cricket.

Annie grew up in central Minnesota where her family raised vegetables, chickens, and sheep. After graduating from Middlebury College with a degree in biology, she worked at Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania for several years as a research technician on a long term trial comparing organic and conventional grain cropping systems. She is ecstatic to have joined the agroecology lab on the Indiana Organic Network (ION) project team, where she will help conduct a statewide soil health assessment of organic farms and investigate how management practices influence soil health dynamics. In her free time, Annie enjoys rock climbing, baking, and tormenting her two cats.

Sheng is currently a post-doctoral researcher in our lab. His primary research focuses on the dynamic interactions between soil microbial communities and metabolite composition, with an emphasis on nutrient cycling. At Purdue, he’s investigating how these processes interact under different crop rotation systems. Sheng earned his doctorate from Hunan Agricultural University and then worked at Central South University of Forestry and Technology as an Associate Professor. Outside of his research, Sheng enjoys driving to new and exciting locations to take in the sights and enjoy nature.

Arsen is a PhD student co-advised by Drs. Yichao Rui and Roland Wilhelm. Originally from Kazakhstan, he has lived in various places from an early age and has learned multiple languages, including English, Kazakh, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish. Arsen enjoys connecting with people and exploring different cultures through travel. Deeply connected to his Kazakh heritage, he plays the Dombra, a traditional instrument, and is passionate about agriculture, driven by a desire to reconnect people with Kazakhstan's vast land resources. In his free time, Arsen enjoys outdoor activities, cooking, and spending time with friends and family. His diverse experiences and interests make him eager to grow and collaborate with others in both his academic and personal life.

While Pavani grew up in small-town India, she completed her bachelor's degree in Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis. After completing her master's degree in Botany at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she investigated clay mineral interactions at the micro-scale, she joins the agroecology laboratory as our lab manager. She is very excited to be contributing to the lab's many research projects, and in making sure the lab is running smoothly and efficiently. When she's not in lab, she can be found reading science fiction novels and completing crossword puzzles in her free time.

Dominic is a visiting scholar in the lab. He is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at Michigan Technological University, where he focuses on wetland restoration and biogeochemistry. His past research includes quantifying fire history and analyzing peat chemistry in the Northern Midwest, as well as studying pyrogenic carbon variance affected by forest fires in Northern Wisconsin. He has a broad interest in ecological stewardship and sustainability.

Panchami is a visiting Ph.D. student from the Kerala Forest Research Institute (Forest Research Institute Dehradun-University) in India. Her research focuses on the vertical distribution of soil carbon pools, mineral-organic interactions, and the impact of rising global temperatures on soil organic carbon in teak plantations and adjacent forests of the southern Western Ghats. At Purdue University, Panchami's work extends to studying how regenerative agroforestry systems affect soil microbial parameters compared to conventional agriculture, contributing to carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation. Beyond her academic pursuits, she enjoys reading and traveling, which continually inspire her commitment to developing innovative solutions for a sustainable climate future.

Hello! I'm Ismael De lara, I’m a senior in Natural Resources with Environmental Science with a concentration in Environmental Quality and Restoration. I’m from Knox, Indiana. I came to Purdue through the Pathway to Purdue Program. On campus, I’m the Environmental Science Club president, an ambassador for the Natural Resources and Environmental Science Program, and I do research for the Purdue Agroecology Lab by helping with the ION project and a project on carbon sequestration policy integration into organic agriculture. In my free time, I’m working on a children’s book about community environmental advocacy, baking, and raising my two sheep in NW IN. I hope to go to graduate school to get my MS in Agronomy and influence agriculture policy.

Current position: Nearing completion of a Bachelor's degree in Agronomical Engineering in Caldas University, Colombia.