Learn more about the recipients of Arboretum Research Fellowships.

2024 Research Fellows

Arboretum Leopold Fellowship Award (two years)

Aishwarya Veerabahu
Department of Botany
Advisors: Anne Pringle and Michelle Jusino
The Midas mushroom: Ecological and social dimensions of the invasive golden oyster mushroom

The golden oyster mushroom (GOM; Pleurotus citrinopileatus) is an invasive, edible wood decay fungus native to eastern Asia that is rapidly spreading in North America. GOM was introduced to the United States multiple times when commercial strains of GOM escaped cultivation from popularized DIY mushroom grow-kits. In its invaded range, GOM fruits prolifically from April to November and is highly concentrated in forested areas of southern Wisconsin. We have found that GOM-colonized deadwood has significantly lower native fungal richness and significantly different fungal community compositions compared to uncolonized wood, suggesting that GOM likely outcompetes native wood decay fungi. The crucial community of wood decay fungi that live within deadwood influence the rate of wood decay and the resulting carbon emissions. If GOM is outcompeting native fungal decay communities, it could be impacting native decay regimes and carbon cycling with serious implications for climate change. Using three existing sites in the UW–Madison Arboretum, this study aims to document GOM’s impact on decay and carbon emissions and the genetic differences between invasive and native strains of GOM. GOM is also highly noticeable and increasingly recognized by the public as invasive. Therefore, I propose an interdisciplinary study, leveraging the Arboretum’s community relationships to conduct interviews with relevant stakeholders to learn their perspectives about GOM and begin the public-academic conversation about managing invasive fungi.

Aishwarya began a PhD in botany at UW–Madison in 2022. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California, Riverside, in 2018.

“Learning and sharing about fungal biodiversity unite my purpose, curiosities, and my Radiolab-esque goal to inspire stewardship by telling stories of my weird and incredible fungal friends.”

Research Fellowship Awards (one year)

Francisco Campos Arguedas
Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences
Advisor: Al Kovaleski
Supercool winter physiology: At what temperature do trees chill?

Dormancy is essential for all woody perennials to survive in temperate and boreal climates. However, we still lack understanding of precisely what temperatures promote dormancy completion. As dormancy is established, buds also acclimate and gain cold hardiness to survive the lowest temperatures experienced during winter in field conditions. Cold hardiness has recently been proposed as a co-variant in previous dormancy assays by influencing the perceived time to budbreak – the metric used to evaluate dormancy completion. This could explain why current chilling accumulation models fail to describe responses across multiple environments. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of temperatures on both dormancy and cold hardiness across seven tree species: balsam fir (Abies balsamea), red maple (Acer rubrum), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), forsythia (Forsythia × ‘Meadowlark’), American larch (Larix laricina), Norway spruce (Picea abies), and flowering cherry (Prunus ‘Accolade’). Twigs from these species will be subjected to varied temperature treatments in four temperature-controlled chambers set at constant temperatures, as well as two fluctuating ranges. Additionally, these treatments will be compared to field chilling, sampling at equivalent intervals to the controlled environments. Following different lengths of exposure to chilling temperatures, samples from all treatments will be placed under forcing at 22°C. Measurements recorded will be cold hardiness (using differential thermal analysis) during chilling and throughout forcing, as well as time (under forcing) to budbreak. The data generated by the controlled environment chilling, along with field conditions, will allow for better modeling of the temperatures that promote chilling for trees.

Francisco started a PhD in horticulture at UW–Madison in 2021. He received a master’s degree in plant biology from Université Laval, Canada, in 2021 and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural sciences from EARTH University, Costa Rica, in 2017.

“My work explores both scientific aspects of plant responses to climate change and the ethical principles of caring for the environment. I believe that science should extend beyond academic papers, fostering engaging conversations with diverse communities. This approach allows people like my Abuelo Arguedas to participate in science, both learning and sharing knowledge.”

Mia Keady
Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
Advisors: Randy Jackson and Thea Whitman
Are prairies our only hope for accumulating soil carbon in the upper Midwest?

Soils have the potential to serve as a carbon sink, spurring a “climate-smart agriculture” movement. However, even agricultural systems with best management practices are often losing soil carbon. Prairie ecosystems may be our best opportunity to significantly increase soil carbon and may serve as a reference for what is possible in terms of soil carbon accumulation. I propose sampling twenty-one remnant and restored prairies across southwest Wisconsin to compare soil carbon and nitrogen to baseline data collected in the early 2000s. I aim to determine if prairies are continuing to build soil carbon, and if so, at what rate. Additionally, I will assess how environmental factors including soil texture, soil minerology, and soil moisture regime influence soil carbon accumulation. I will use a matrix capacity index (MCI) to assess if soil mineral surfaces can become saturated in organic matter, thus limiting accumulation. MCI is based on exchangeable calcium and magnesium, and extractable iron and aluminum-charged particles responsible for binding organic matter to mineral surfaces. This work will test theories related to mineral saturation, build on a long-term dataset, and advance our understanding of soils’ capacity to accumulate carbon.

Mia began a PhD in Environment and Resources at UW–Madison in 2021. She received a master’s degree in biology from George Mason University in 2020 and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 2014.

“The slow accumulation of carbon in soils has the potential to offset a portion of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, increase water infiltration, and reduce soil erosion, yet we are still understanding the environmental controls and how they vary by ecosystem. I look forward to addressing this critical question at the intersection of soil science, restoration ecology, and climate change.”

Meg Wilson
Department of Art History
Advisor: Daniel Spaulding
Mapping walnut tree relations at the Arboretum border

This project aims to explore the proliferation of black walnut trees within the UW–Madison Arboretum grounds and along and across the borders between the Arboretum and the surrounding built landscapes. The project posits that the obligation and opportunity to care about and to care for the land does not end at the fence around the Arboretum. Visual cultures scholar and artist Meg Wilson—in collaboration with the Brunkard plant genetics lab—will identify black walnut tree relationships: from the oldest black walnuts in the Arboretum to their offspring, and in the border zones that touch the Arboretum on all sides. By identifying, mapping, and sampling leaves from black walnut trees, then utilizing molecular genetics testing to extract DNA sequences from the leaves, we will identify distinct “families” of black walnuts. We will then use archival research, mapping, and tree age assessments to understand the tree families’ growth across the border fence into and/or out of the Arboretum over generations; time in which the trees’ histories have been affected by human histories of land conquest, division, farming, and suburban development. The final outcomes of this project will be an artist talk at the Arboretum Visitor Center, along with an artist-researcher led walk along the trails at the Arboretum, identifying particular black walnut tree relations of interest and discussing how understanding the tree relations can expand and inform a land ethic. Further outcomes include a dataset of black walnut tree genetic assays, an associated map, and a paper about the project submitted for publication in scholarly journals.

Meg started a PhD in art history in 2021 at UW–Madison, where they are also pursuing an MFA in studio art. They received a master’s degree in art from UW–Madison in 2023 and a bachelor’s degree in art history from Berea College in 2021.

“I focus on contemporary ecological thinking (particularly as relates to queer ecologies and decolonial ecologies), ecological care practices as art, and visual cultures of land relations. I research the ways people interact with and think about trees growing in cities, and I consider the emotional connections people draw between trees and themselves, and between trees and history, place, and futurity.”

Past Fellows

2023

Research Fellowships (one year)

Sam Anderson, Department of Biology (advisor: Kate McCulloh)
A physiological perspective: Utilizing stress-tolerance traits of Wisconsin woody species to reassess historical analyses and inform future land management

Mark Fuka, Department of Integrative Biology (advisor: John Orrock)
Examining the efficacy of a natural taste deterrent on Quercus rubra acorns and saplings to reduce granivory and herbivory to promote oak recruitment in the presence and absence of invasive shrubs

Michelle Homann, Department of Integrative Biology (advisor: Ellen Damschen)
The role of climate and priority effects in tallgrass prairie community assembly

Aishwarya Veerabahu, Department of Botany (advisors: Anne Pringle and Michelle Jusino)
A golden opportunity to study the impacts of an invasive wood decay fungus

2022

Arboretum Leopold Fellowship (two years)

Mia Keady, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies (advisors: Randy Jackson and Thea Whitman)
Roots, litter, deep soil, and microbes – investigating the paradigm shift of soil organic matter persistence

Research Fellowships (one year)

Benjamin Douglas, Department of Psychology (advisor: Markus Brauer)
Behavioral Tests of Social Norms Messaging in Environmental Education

Adrianna Gorsky, Department of Integrative Biology, Center for Limnology (advisors: Emily Stanley and Hilary Dugan)
Overlooked and understudied: Urban and eutrophic ponds as greenhouse gas hotspots

Michelle Homann, Department of Integrative Biology (advisor: Ellen Damschen)
The role of climate and priority effects in tallgrass prairie community assembly

2021

Research Fellowships (one year)

Roberto Carrera-Martínez, Department of Integrative Biology (advisor: Sean Schoville)
Exploring the distribution of invasive earthworms and exotic plants and indirect interactions: Indications of invasional meltdown or disturbance-mediated establishment?

Mary-Claire Glasenhardt, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies (advisor: Paul Zedler)
Community dynamics of an 86-year-old tallgrass prairie restoration: Curtis Prairie’s current conditions, temporal change, and land management

Dana Johnson, Department of Soil Science (advisor: Thea Whitman)
Impact of non-native Amynthas spp. on soil structure, fungal biomass, and fungal diversity in forest soils

2020

Arboretum Leopold Fellowship (two years)

Katherine Charton, Department of Integrative Biology (advisor: Ellen Damschen)
Effects of management and precipitation on woody encroachment in tallgrass prairie

Research Fellowships (one year)

Erin Crone, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology (advisor: Daniel Preston)
Ecology of urban herpetofauna in Madison, Wisconsin

Anna Skye Harnsberger, Department of Entomology (advisors: Karen Oberhauser and Claudio Gratton)
Effects of local and landscape characteristics on native prairie butterfly communities

Nick Hoffman, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies (advisor: Sara Hotchkiss)
Stormwater history: A fifty-year reconstruction of the runoff-mediated disturbance load to Curtis Pond and Curtis Prairie

Carson Keller, Department of Zoology (advisor: John Orrock)
Do invasive species modify small mammal trophic interactions and generate predictable behavioral changes?

2019

Research Fellowships (one year)

Jared Beck, Department of Botany (advisor: Don Waller)
Contagious trees? Characterizing spatial patterns and ecological factors influencing the local distribution of trees in southern Wisconsin

Erin Crone, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology (advisor: Daniel Preston)
Interactions between non-native earthworms and native amphibians in the UW–Madison Arboretum

Rachel Jordan, Department of Botany (advisor: Kate McCulloh)
How will Wisconsin’s native conifers respond to winter warming?

Theresa Vander Woude, Department of Life Sciences Communication and Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies (advisor: Bret Shaw)
Opinion leaders: Activating the Arboretum’s “Neighborshed”

Science Communications Fellowship (one year)

Liz Anna Kozik, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies (advisor: Caroline Gottschalk-Druschke)
Public Engagement Focused on Restoration Ecology