KBS students, postdocs, continue to garner recognition for outstanding research, outreach and publications

Several W.K. Kellogg Biological Station researchers—postdoctoral research associates, graduate students, and undergraduate students—have received awards this year for their outstanding work.

Department of Integrative Biology Graduate Student Awards

Two KBS graduate students won a 2026 Graduate Student Award from MSU’s Department of Integrative Biology. They are:

Corinne Conlon

Corinne received the John R. Shaver Ph.D. Graduate Student Fund in Zoology.

She is a graduate student in the Department of Integrative Biology and in the Kozakiewicz Lab, based at KBS. Her research interests include zoonotic disease, pathogen transmission, and landscape genetics.

Alex Lewanski

Alex received the Dr. Marvin Hensley Endowed Scholarship in Zoology

He is a graduate student in the Department of Integrative Biology and in the Fitzpatrick Lab, based at KBS. His research interests include population genomics, conservation biology, evolutionary ecology.

Luisa Maria Diele-Viegas

Dr. Diele-Viegas recently received the Planet Earth Award from the Alliance of World Scientists, a courtesy Senior Research Associate I appointment at University of Oregon, and recognition by the IAP Science Health Policy Women Leading in Science. She is a postdoctoral research associate in the Kozakiewicz Lab, based at KBS.

The Planet Earth Award award acknowledges individuals who demonstrate exceptional creativity or contributions in their work in science or science-based advocacy with the public, policymakers, or other groups seeking solutions to environmental challenges.

Dr. Diele-Viegas’ research bridges climate science, biodiversity conservation, and social justice. She has published some 75 scientific papers on climate change impacts on reptiles and amphibians, particularly in threatened Brazilian ecosystems.

Rachel Drobnak

Rachel was awarded the Michigan State University Graduate School’s Graduate Award in Science Outreach and Communication. She is a graduate student in the Sprunger Lab, based at KBS, and also recently filled the role of interim associate director for engagement for the KBS Long-Term Agroecosystem Research program.

The award recognizes exemplary efforts to translate and communicate scholarly research to the general public, and highlights Rachel’s efforts in making science accessible and relevant to the public at large. Some of those efforts include: development of a prairie strip partial budget bulletin, leadership of an on-farm prairie strip research project, much mentoring, and multiple presentations at KBS Field Days, beginning with her first summer at the field station in 2021.

This marks the second time a KBS graduate student has won the award. In 2023, Corinn Rutkoski, then a doctoral student in the Evans Lab, was recognized for her many outreach efforts, including organizing a series of policymaker visits to KBS.

Read more about Rachel and the award.

Brandon Kristy

Brandon is one of three MSU students selected for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science Graduate Student Research program, or SCGSR. He is a graduate student in the Evans Lab, based at KBS. His research specialty is plant science for sustainable bioenergy, where he investigates how soil microbiomes can help crops like switchgrass thrive without relying on excessive chemical fertilizers.

The SCGSR provides world-class training and access to state-of-the-art facilities at DOE national laboratories. Through the program, Brandon will head to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to study the “unseen” partners of sustainable bioenergy. While there, he will use cutting-edge nanoscale ion mass spectrometry to visualize isotopic signatures inside roots and fungi. This high-resolution imaging will allow him to measure the exact nutrient exchange between plants and their microbial teams.

Read more about Brandon and other MSU students accepted into the SCGSR program.

Caleb Krueger

Caleb was one of two recipients of a 2026 Director’s Award for Outstanding Publication in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. Two other MSU students earned honorable mentions. Caleb was a graduate student in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and in the Janzen Lab, based at KBS, who successfully defended his dissertation in June 2026.

The award grants $1,125 to two graduate students with outstanding publications that are affiliated with MSU’s Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior program.

Caleb’s paper was titled, “The tortoise and the air: climate shapes sex-ratio reaction norm variation in turtles”. It offered a multi-scale examination of how temperature-dependent sex determination evolves across phylogenetic history and contemporary climatic gradients. This study provided a really novel framework that shows how fundamental traits underlying sex determination are not static, but evolve in predictable ways in response to environmental conditions.

Read more about Caleb and the other awardee and honorable mentions.

Sam Manson

Sam Manson, an MSU undergraduate who spent a summer at KBS as part of the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship program, won first place in the 2026 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum awards, for a poster submitted in the Plant Sciences category, section 5.

Sam’s poster was titled, “A Buggy Situation: Nitrogen’s Impact on Insect Diversity in Varied Plant Communities.” In the study, Sam collected and identified insects in attempts to understand how nitrogen fertilizer influences their populations or diversity.

Join us in congratulating everyone on their exemplary work.