Former Secondary Science Teacher studies Geomicrobiology and Microbial Ecology with MAPS Researchers

    When Christina Richardson graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, she also graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education and obtained an Illinois teaching certification. Following graduation, she began her career as a substitute teacher in Illinois, and then later, she became a teacher aid in Indiana. Although, Christina is originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, she grew up in New Delhi, India, so it was not unusual that in June of 2012, she accepted a position in New Delhi serving as an Education Consultant for the Metro Delhi International School.

Christina presenting her research at the
2018 Geological Society of America (GSA)
meeting in Indianapolis, IN

     As an Education Consultant, Christina created “the middle school science curriculum and the high school biology curriculum,” as well as developed the science safety guidelines and the school's annual Science Fair. In addition, she taught 6th through 8th grade science and high school biology. After working four years as an Education Consultant, Christina decided she wanted to go back to school to earn a master's degree because, as she explains, “ ... I realized that I missed studying science for myself.” She added that her interest in studying “Geomicrobiology and Microbial Ecology grew through my students’ curiosity in high school biology and my desire to learn about and promote more sustainable agricultural and water management practices around the world.” So, she moved back to the U.S. to pursue a Master of Science in Geology at Kansas State University (KSU).
    Now in her second year, Christina is working on her master's project with Dr. Matthew Kirk, Associate Professor in the Geology Department at KSU and a team leader of the Soil Systems research team, and Dr. Lydia Zeglin, Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at KSU and a team leader for the Aquatic Systems research team, both involved with the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS).  On November 16, 2018, Christina presented a poster featuring her research at the MAPS All Science Meeting held at the Konza Prairie Biological Station. Christina collaborated on the poster project with a fellow graduate student, Alexandria Richard. The title of their poster was “Impact of Land Use on Groundwater Chemistry and Microbial Communities in the Great Bend Prairie Aquifer.” Within their research project, Christina focused on looking closely at “the soil and aquifer microbial communities in the Great Bend Prairie Aquifer to understand how they are impacted by land use” while Alexandria focused on the “impact of land use on groundwater chemistry in the Great Bend Prairie Aquifer.”
   

Left: Surveying for soil sampling sites near monitoring wells in south-central

Kansas, and 

Right: Sampling soils at different depths, using ethanol and gloves

to ensure the soil microbial communities remained intact with minimal

contamination of microbes from other sources.

     Christina explained what their research addressed as follows: “Microbial species engage in redox reactions that significantly affect aquifer geochemistry and water quality. Previous studies have focused on the impact of land use on groundwater quality as well as on soil microbial communities. However, very little research has been conducted to understand the influence of land use on aquifer microbial communities. In this study, we are examining the relationship between land use and aquifer microbiology in the Great Bend Prairie Aquifer, a portion of the High Plains Aquifer in south-central Kansas. We hypothesized that land use significantly impacts the composition of the shallow aquifer microbial community and that the composition of the groundwater microbiome will be related to the composition of the soil microbiome. To test these hypotheses, we are comparing the shallow aquifer microbial communities to groundwater geochemistry and to soil geochemistry and microbiology in areas of different land use. We have analyzed multiple samples of the soil and aquifer microbiomes to compare the composition and diversity of their microbial communities. In addition, we have measured environmental parameters (e.g. pH, particle size, EC, OM, NO3-, NO2-, NH3, Mg, Ca) in the soil and shallow aquifer at each sampling site. We are currently analyzing our collected data with alpha and beta diversity tests through QIIME and RStudio. Because land use changes many environmental factors (e.g. added nutrients through fertilizers, pesticides, and manure; change in soil structure via cattle or machinery compaction), we expect to see significant correlations between the shallow aquifer and soil microbial communities of cropland compared to those of pastoral sites.”
     As for her future plans after graduation, Christina said, “I plan to get some experience in the environmental consulting world while my husband is still in the Army, and I am interested in pursuing more research and higher education in the future. Eventually, I plan to work internationally as an environmental consultant.”

The Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas workforce development, and educational objectives are designed to enhance research capacity and STEM education in Kansas, expand the STEM workforce and prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.

Registration is open for the 2019 MAPS Research Symposium on March 18, 2019 at Kansas State University

The 2019 Kansas NSF EPSCoR Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS) Research Symposium will be held Monday, March 18, 2019 from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM at the K-State Alumni Center. The symposium will feature the activities of the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 project, Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems Across Kansas (MAPS) with presentations by the researchers and educators. Also featured will be a keynote speaker (tba), lunch and a poster session detailing some of the most recent research findings. Student attendance and posters are encouraged.

In addition, preceding the symposium will be an opening event Sunday at 4:30 PM, March 17, at JP’s in the K-State Union.

There is no cost to attend, however, registration is required.

Meeting Agenda

Registration is now closed.

Links to all the talks are accessible at 
2019 MAPS Symposium Presentations

Contact Doug Byers at dbyers@ku.edu or 785-864-3227 with questions.

Funding for the symposium is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas. The grant's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.

MAPS graduate student studies HABs and Kansas water quality

Janaye Hanschu working on
her first independent research project
as an undergraduate

     During the summers of her childhood, Janaye Hanschu would visit the Marion Reservoir located on the Cottonwood River, 3 miles northwest of Marion, Kansas. Because she loved the water, it was a weekly event. Unfortunately, as she got older the lake “would often get shut down due to harmful blue-green algae blooms" (HABs). Harmful blue-green algae is a bacteria know as Cyanobacteria that reproduces rapidly if conditions such as high nutrient and high light levels are present. The dense growth of the algae, or bloom, can produce toxins if it becomes stressed or dies. These toxins impact water quality and are harmful to people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds. According to the 2018 Kansas Water Authority Annual Report to the Governor and Legislature, HABS continue to impact the Marion Reservoir's water quality, and Janaye added, it is “one of the worse lakes in Kansas as far as algae blooms” are concerned. After witnessing, firsthand, the impacts HABs and excess nutrients had on Kansas waterways, Janaye decided she wanted do something about the water quality problems in Kansas.

Janaye collecting samples for the Kansas River RAPIDS project

      So, while she was earning a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Kansas State University (KSU), Janaye pursued her research interest in water quality by working for Dr. Lydia Zeglin's in her Microbial Ecology Lab. Dr. Zeglin is an Assistant Professor of Biology at KSU and is a member of the Aquatics research team for the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS).
 
     After graduating in the fall of 2017, Janaye continued to work for Dr. Zeglin as a research assistant on another NSF research project titled: RAPIDS: Are biogeochemical responses linked to the microbial composition of a defined nutrient and microbial input to a large river? (DEB #1822960). This project involved a collaboration between the Zeglin Microbial Ecology Lab (KSU) and the Burgin Lab at the University of Kansas (KU). The Burgin Lab is led by Dr. Amy Burgin, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) at KU; Environmental Studies Associate Scientist for the Kansas Biological Survey; and a MAPS Aquatics research team member. The RAPIDS project was designed to study nutrients in the Kansas River.
     On November 16, 2018, Janaye presented a poster featuring her RAPIDS research at the MAPS All Science Meeting held at the Konza Prairie Biological Station. The title of her poster was “Do novel inputs to the Kansas River affect the water of sediment microbiome and water chemistry?” She explained her RAPIDS project as follows: “The city of Lawrence bought an old fertilizer plant. The plant contained several gallons of fertilizer dissolved in water. The city needed to dispose of the fertilizer. Initially, the city was selling the fertilizer to farmers to use for their crops. However, the execution was time consuming and a financial burden. As a result, the city got permission from the state and EPA to release the fertilized water into the Kansas River over a time frame of about two months. The release inoculates the water with both nitrogen (nutrients) and microorganisms. This novel input into the Kansas River lead to the question: Does microbial nitrogen processing in the river respond solely to changes in the nitrogen substrate supply, or does changing the microbial community also affect ecosystem-scale biochemistry. We sampled the river every two weeks (in addition to other sampling). At one time point, it was found that there is a microbial community composition (MCC) spike--an increase in microbial diversity--where the fertilizer was being released into the river. The overall MCC was returned to normal by 5 km downstream of the input site, but the microbial types unique to the input can be detected to at least 29 km. There were 23 unique bacterial OTUs in the water downstream of the input, but only 5 of these increased in relative abundance. As for the biochemistry and microbial relationship, for this specific time point, the microbial biochemical processes seem to be turning over the nutrient load at a sufficient rate because the chemical signals are weaker than the microbial signals.” And she said that although "this poster was done on a different grant ... the research was relevant to the MAPS project." While working on RAPIDS project, Janaye became “highly interested in linkages between MCC and biogeochemistry rates.”

Janaye standing a Milford Tank,
part of an experiment led by Dr. Ted Harris
in the summer of 2018 which will she will
continue this summer (2019). 

     In the fall of 2018 Janaye decided to continue pursuing her research interests in water quality and entered graduate school at KU. Janaye was hired by Dr. Amy Burgin to work as a MAPS graduate research assistant in the Burgin Lab. Janaye explained why she wanted to participate in the MAPS research this way: "I am interested in working on the MAPS research because we live in this delicately interconnected environment that needs to be understood in order to preserve it. Humans are changing our Earth's ecosystem at a rapid rate and understanding out interactions between aquatic, plant, and soil microbes could be a key in establishing policies and practices for a better future." And she added, “During the MAPS project, I hope to better understand connections between the MCC in harmful algae blooms (HABs) and nutrient availability/limitations to be able to better understand the production of cyanotoxins by cyanobacteria.” Her MAPS research will involve conducting a mesocom tank experiment in the summer of 2019. She explained the experiment as follows, “Large tanks will be inoculated with Kansas lake water and different nutrient limitations will be imposed on the tanks. Also, different forms of nutrients, such as nitrogen, will be observed. We will look at which kind of nutrients influence cyanobacteria growth and cyanotoxin production.”
   
Janaye is from McPherson, KS and is a first year EEB Master's student at the KU. As for her future plans, she hopes to continue a career in research and/or outreach.

Workforce Development, Education and Outreach funding for graduate assistantships is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas. The grant's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.

The 2019 Kansas NSF EPSCoR MAPS Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute is now accepting applications

Do you teach high school biology or environmental studies?

Would you like to interact with ecological researchers, develop curriculum that links current research to Next Generation Science Standards, learn more about Kansas ecosystems, and work with other teachers across the state?

Then, apply to attend the

2019 Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute.

This year the institute will be held June 17-21, 2019 (arrive evening of June 16 if traveling from out of town) at the Konza Prairie Biological Station, 100 Konza Prairie Lane, Manhattan KS 66502.

While attending the institute, teachers will participate in a variety of activities from carrying out investigations and learning about current university-level research, to exploring diverse outdoor environments. Early in the week participants will be divided into groups based upon their areas of interest to work with Kansas State University researchers. Groups will spend time developing inquiry-based curriculum for their high school classrooms.

Teachers attending the summer institute will earn a stipend of $750 for actively participating in the week’s activities and writing curriculum.

A travel allowance will be provided for all participants and housing will be provided for participants who live more than an hour drive from the Konza Prairie Biological Station.
 

APPLY HERE

Ten Teachers will be selected to participate 

Applications are due April 1, 2019 

To see how one teacher has used her 2018 institute experience in the classroom click here

To learn more about what you can expect, go to  2018 Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute

To learn more about the researchers who will be facilitating the small groups for the 2019 Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute as well as more about the MAPS researchers go to the People tab on the Kansas NSF EPSCoR MAPS outreach website.

Involvement in this program could lead to further collaboration through National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Teachers (NSF RET) grants. Future programs will take place at the University of Kansas Field Station in 2020 and 2022 and at the Kansas State Konza Prairie Biological Station in the summer of 2021.

The summer institute is one of the educational outreach initiatives supported by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS) and is under the direction of  Dr. Peggy Schultz, Associate Specialist, Environmental Studies Program at the Kansas Biological Survey (KBS).

REQUEST FOR WHITE PAPERS: RESEARCH & EDUCATION INNOVATION (REI) AWARDS In Microbiome Research

     Kansas NSF EPSCoR is seeking White Papers for impactful initiatives for REI Awards. REI Awards are for small projects that will either allow for networking and planning or for the immediate pursuit of larger projects for developing new transformational concepts. These are awarded for both research and education, given their close relationship. These awards are in the same spirit as and share goals with NSF EAGER (Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research) awards, for high risk/high gain research ideas.  
     The current RII Track-1 award funding REI Awards is titled Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant and Soil Systems (MAPS) across Kansas. Broadly, MAPS’ mission is to elucidate how microbiomes interact within native and agriculturally dominated aquatic, plant, and soil habitats, leveraging the steep precipitation gradient across Kansas as a means of projecting system response to environmental change. The MAPS project provides a vehicle for education, training, and outreach that includes informing policymakers and managers. 

Only projects with research in areas that are related to the current Kansas NSF EPSCoR focus of microbiomes as broadly construed to be in aquatic, plant and/or soil systems are eligible for REI Awards.

Eligible to apply:  Any individual with PI status at Kansas State University, University of Kansas, Wichita State University, Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Pittsburg State University or Washburn University.

An individual Principal Investigator may submit a total project budget of up to $50,000 in direct costs for up to 12 months. 

Please note new proposal submission details included in the RFP

White papers are due by 5:00 pm  
Thursday, January 31st, 2019

for additional information go to Kansas NSF EPSCoR Funding Opportunities

It is expected that Kansas NSF EPSCoR will fund as many as four REI Awards depending upon the size of the requests

Workforce Development, Education and Outreach funding for the Research and Education Innovation (REI) Awards is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: "Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas."  The grant's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.

Lessons from the MAPS 2018 Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute for high school biology teachers are making positive impacts in the classroom

 
 

Ms. Amy Hammett
Honors Biology and
Earth-Space Science Teacher
Maize High School
Maize KS

     Last summer, eleven high school Biology and Environmental Science teachers from across Kansas attended the MAPS 2018 Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute held at the University of Kansas Field Station. The summer institute is one of the educational outreach initiatives supported by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS) and is under the direction of  Dr. Peggy Schultz, Associate Specialist, Environmental Studies Program at the Kansas Biological Survey (KBS). The institute's objectives were to provide opportunities for teachers to create models and conduct research during the morning sessions and to work with other teachers in smaller focus groups to develop lessons and classroom activities during the afternoon sessions. Prior to attending the institute, teachers selected to participate in one of the three focus groups offered, Aquatics, Terrestrial or GIS. The focus groups provided the teachers with the opportunity to: 1) work with University of Kansas (KU) scientists in a small group setting, 2) develop lesson plans that connected their curriculum to the current MAPS research, and 3) create student activities reflecting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs).
     Ms. Amy Hammett, who teaches Honors Biology and Earth-Space Science at Maize High School in Maize, KS, attended last summer's institute and chose to participate in the Aquatics focus group led by Dr. Jerry DeNoyelles, Deputy Director and Senior Scientist at KBS and Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at KU and Dr. Ted Harris , Assistant Research Professor at KBS. Using what she learned from her focus group experience, Ms. Hammett created two Problem Based Learning (PBL) lessons related to current water issues facing the state of Kansas. One lesson was titled Water Quality Monitoring of Kansas Surface Water and Computational Modeling of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). The objectives for this lesson involved students learning how to figure out “the human impacts of nutrient runoff, sedimentation, and global temperature changes on surface water supplies.” In order to meet these objectives, students participated in activities that included: "1) Algal Growth Experiments, 2) Water Quality Monitoring of Cheney Reservoir in collaboration with the University of Missouri's Reservoir Observer Student Scientists (ROSS) Project, and 3) R-Programming Analysis of Real-Time Limnology data using the EDDIE Modules. The second lesson was titled Water Quantity in the Ogallala Aquifer. The objectives for this lesson involved students learning how to figure out the long-term effects of water usage and conservation efforts, as well as design solutions and mitigate consequences of the over-usage of water. Activities for this lesson included: 1) Using math modeling to make a prediction on the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer and creating public education info-graphics, like this one, 2) attending the Governor's Water Conference in Manhattan in 2018, and 3) eight Maize High School students becoming Kansas Water Advocates.

Students learning more about becoming Kansas Water Advocates

     In addition, Ms Hammett arranged a class field trip to the Aquifer Storage Recovery facility in Burrton, KS, where her students were shown how the city of Wichita "purifies and treats excess water from the Arkansas River for long-term storage in a man-made aquifer.” She also invited, Mr. Matt Unruh, the Director of the Equus Walnut Region of the Kansas Water Office and Dr. Harris to visit her classes. Mr. Unruh discussed the “Kansas water supply and all the technologies under development or being deployed to conserve water,” and Dr. Harris taught her students how to access the Carey Lab at Virginia Tech and use post doc Kait Farrell's "R code creations." As a follow up to this lesson, her students entered and "won the $10,000 2018-19 Lexus EcoChallenge for our Kansas water quality work." Ms. Hammett added,"Winning this challenge also opens the opportunity for us to compete in the $30,000 Lexus Grand EcoChallenge." She plans to use the funds "to give scholarships to the participants and fund the expansion of their limnology studies."

Left Matt Unruh, the Director of the Equus Walnut Region of the Kansas Water Office visits Amy's classes
Right, Dr. Ted Harris, Assistant Research Professor with KBS explains R code creations

     When asked how her classes responded to the lessons, Ms. Hammett said her students were "excited about doing work that is locally relevant and meaningful.” One student told her she felt, "for the first time, like a 'colleague' - doing science to 'figure out' rather than just 'learn about.'" Ms. Hammett also shared that her students performed at 100% mastery on assessments related to the lessons, which she attributes to "the increased motivation the lessons' relevance brought” to the classroom. In addition, she said the lessons have become “anchoring phenomenon in both Biology and Earth-Space Science classes, and students have connected and extended the NGSS Science & Engineering Practices (SEPs) adopted in these projects to all new learning.” Ms. Hammett has continued her collaboration with her summer institute Aquatics focus group leader, Dr. Harris, and together, they have been working on “an R-programming model of harmful algal blooms (HABs) using the EDDIE Project's modules. (We are also considering extending this work to a CS for All RFP, but that collaborative project is still in the works.)”
    As for the impact the summer institute has had on her instruction, Ms. Hammett said “The Ecosystems across Kansas Summer Institute shaped my teaching this year” and added, “I will be working as a fellow with Concord Consortium this upcoming summer to continue to develop lessons based on the topics discussed at the institute.” Ms. Hammett highly recommends that teachers apply to the 2019 Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute because “it is PD like no other; you do science alongside scientists and there is no substitute for this type of experience for teachers. It enables us to replicate it in the K12 environment, i.e. to get kids to do science in science class.”

The 2019 Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute is now accepting applications:  Apply here 

Ms. Amy Hammett has been teaching for 13 years, starting her career in Louisiana (2006-2010) before moving to Kansas. Prior to teaching at Maize High School, Ms. Hammett taught at Campus High School, Northeast Magnet, and online for the Insight School of Kansas (ISKS) / Kansas Virtual School. Approximately 150 high school students will participate in her MAPS related lessons during the 2018-2019 school year. For more information about Ms. Hammett's lessons and how to contact her, go to the Kansas Association of Biology Teachers (KABT) Bio Blog Archives, PBL: Water Quantity and Water Quality


Workforce Development, Education and Outreach funding for the Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: "Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas."  The grant's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.

The Haskell Environmental Research Studies (HERS) Institute is now accepting applications for paid summer internships

       The HERS Institute is an 8-week paid summer internship program for undergraduate or recent graduate students held in June and July. The institute's underlying mission is to provide the opportunity for students to work with faculty from Native American colleges who are conducting long-term and short-term research relating to key hazardous substance problems on American Indian lands with the intent to disseminate the information through programs and various forms of media to American Indian peoples. The program is also dedicated to preparing tribal college students for science and technical careers and/or graduate school experiences. The program also provides various stages of support for continued research and participation in programs of interest to American Indian/Alaska native communities. The HERS interns' research topics primarily focus on the affects of climate change on indigenous communities.
     Interns spend the first six weeks of the program on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus in classrooms and laboratories learning about climate change and developing individual research projects. Then, the interns spend the following two weeks conducting independent research at Haskell Indian Nations University, The University of Kansas, and/or in the field. HERS interns will also have opportunities to present their work at professional meetings, workshops, and symposia around the country, such as the Society for Advancing Chicanos & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) or American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES).  Selected interns receive a stipend as well as room and board.

    To be considered for the HERS Internship Program, applicants must be undergraduate students or recent graduates in good standing, and eligible for enrollment in a tribal college or university.

Applicants will be expected to provide the following for consideration:

• A 400 to 500 word Statement of Purpose including an explanation as to how a HERS internship benefits their professional goals. If relevant, also include a description of previous research experience.
• A 400 to 500 word Essay describing an important environmental issue affecting Indigenous communities that is of interest to them. 
• Two Letters of Recommendations: One from an academic reference and one from someone who can speak to the applicant's character.  There is a letters of recommendation request form at the online application site. 
• A copy of the applicant's most recent college or university his or her transcripts. Official transcripts will be requested at a later time.

Interested students apply here

All application materials must be submitted by March 15, 2019

Check the HERS Institute website for updates or deadline extensions.

Workforce Development, Education and Outreach funding for the HERS program is provided by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas. The award's workforce development and educational objectives are designed to enhance STEM education in Kansas by supporting activities that will lead to an expanded STEM workforce or prepare a new generation for STEM careers in the areas of aquatic, plant and soil microbiome environments and ecological systems.