KBS’s Evans garners promotion, nabs major grant to study drought effects

Evans

It’s been an eventful month for Dr. Sarah Evans.

Evans, a W.K. Kellogg Biological Station faculty member with joint appointments in Michigan State University’s departments of Integrative Biology and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, was promoted to associate professor effective July 1, 2020.

“The KBS community congratulates Dr. Sarah Evans on her tenure designation and promotion to associate professor,” says KBS Director Fredric Janzen. “It is richly deserved.

“Sarah has contributed substantially to her field and to KBS in so many ways, of course with her research, but also through her mentorship and other activities, including the promotion of science through the arts.”

NSF funds study on soils’ drought responses

Then recently, the National Science Foundation’s Division of Environmental Biology awarded Evans and her co-investigators a major grant to study the impact drought conditions have on the carbon cycling process of soils. The three-year, $1.4 million grant will enable Evans and her colleagues to first study how soils respond to a dearth of rain, and then create predictive models that could inform responses to climate change.

Rainout shelters simulate drought conditions. Credit: K. Stepnitz

“What’s…unique about this project is that it integrates measurements and modeling,” Evans says. “Accurate predictions of carbon cycling and climate change will be essential for human adaptation and mitigation efforts.”

“Sarah was able to secure major funding and very quickly develop a large and productive lab as a new assistant professor, recalls Jeff Conner, KBS faculty member and former interim director. “She has already become a leader in the field of microbial ecology, where her work is distinguished by its strong foundation in fundamental ecological concepts as well as the breadth of crucial microbial-plant interactions studied.”

The research project is set to begin Sept. 1.

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