The spring beauties (Claytonia virginiana) popping up all over Kenyon’s campus made me realize that a lot of good news has been blossoming in the KerkhoffLab as well! As on most college campuses, springtime in the KerkhoffLab is a time of great activity, a time for moving on and moving in, a time for polishing new results and gearing up for new projects, a time for awards to recognize potential and plans for taking the next step.

Here are some of the beautiful spring things happening around here:

• We are super excited to welcome Dr. Susy Echeverria-Londoño to the lab group! She will be joining us as a postdoc on the Macroecology of Land Plant Biodiversity project, in collaboration with folks at the University of Arizona, Wesleyan University, and the Botanical Information and Ecology Network (BIEN). We can’t wait to get started!
• After graduation in May, Toby SantaMaria is heading to Norway this summer to work as part of the research team of Dr. Vigdis Vandvik from Universetet I Bergen. She will be studying C and N cycling as part of the HiddenCosts project examining plantations-for-climate schemes in Norway. Gratulerer, Toby!
• Our other senior lab member, Caitlin Redak, is heading to Alabama to begin her PhD program at Auburn University, working with Dr. Scott Santos. She plans to study physiological and phylogenetic approaches to marine biology. I wish there was enough room on the boat for us all to go along!
• Cecina Babich Morrow and Erin Keleske are staying in the KerkhoffLab as part of the Kenyon Summer Science Scholars program. Their work is also part of the Macroecology of Land Plant Biodiversity project, and we’re going to make a research trip to Colorado to meet with our collaborators at the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab.
• Cecina was also recently awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship! Way to go, Cecina!
• Hannah Wedig is going to be studying abroad in New Zealand next semester!
• A terrific group of students from Kenyon Biology’s IntroLab have also been doing work in the KerkhoffLab. Greg Holste (who joined the lab this spring) and his partner Rhys Pinder are examining geographic patterns of diversity of crop wild relatives. Carter Powell and Billy Hartman who have been looking at bryophyte diversity patterns. In the field, two groups, Cameron Peters and Jennie Van Meter,  and Julia Unangst and Sophia Kuvan, have been measuring the phenology of soil respiration in the KerkhoffLab forest plots. More to come on all of these projects soon! Hopefully, at least some of them will continue their work in the fall!