Announcements
We are recruiting new PhD students to join the lab in Fall 2025 and contribute to one of two projects in terrestrial ecosystem biogeochemistry: 1) Nitrogen-fixing shrubs and forest-shrubland transitions following disease and wildfire, 2) Ericoid mycorrhizal shrubs in forest carbon and nitrogen cycling. Ideal candidates possess a B.S. and M.S. in ecology, environmental science or soil science, and have prior lab and field research experience in soil biogeochemistry. If you are interested, please contact Nina Wurzburger ninawurz@uga.edu with a statement of interest and CV. — Oct 1, 2024
Welcome to Rohit and Trey, our new graduate students, and welcome to Aura, Jake and Nicholas, our new undergrad assistants! — Aug 15, 2024
Welcome to Mark Whatley, our new lab manager! — May 1, 2024
Congratulations to Kayla for successfully defending her thesis on ericoid mycorrhizal shrubs and soil organic matter! — Mar 15, 2024
Our paper on how forest mycorrhizal dominance depends on historical land use and nitrogen fixation was published in Journal of Applied Ecology, featured on UGA Today and discussed in The Applied Ecologist. — Aug 20, 2023
New undergraduates have joined the lab -- Welcome to Christian Deneka, Madison Caren and Soumya Vajrala! — June 1, 2023
Welcome to Isabella Pellicano, a new undergraduate researcher joining the lab — Feb 1, 2023
Sarah's manuscript on light and nitrogen effects on symbiotic N fixation has been published in Oecologia. Congrats! — Jan 13, 2023
Welcome to Angie Romano, a new PhD student joining the lab — Jan 9, 2023
Welcome to Lindsay Jason, Ian Morton and Preston Harden, our new undergraduate assistants — May 10, 2022
Congratulations to Jessie for successfully defending her thesis on legacy effects of land use on the nitrogen cycle — Apr 6, 2022
Welcome to Kayla Bonilla, a new PhD student joining the lab — Dec 5, 2021
Our framework for scaling symbiotic nitrogen fixation has been published in Journal of Ecology — Nov 25, 2021
Congratulations to Sarah for successfully defending her thesis on nitrogen fixation strategies of black locust! — Nov 10, 2021
Welcome to Jordan Argrett and Erik Jones, new graduate students joining the lab! — Aug 18, 2021
Dana's MS thesis research about ecosystem resistance to wildfire following long-term fire exclusion has been accepted for publication in Ecosystems. Congrats! — Sept 12, 2020
Congratulations to Jessie for winning the 2020 Best Student Presentation Award sponsored by the ESA Biogeosciences Section and the New Phytologist! — Sept 10, 2020
Welcome to Carter Watson, our new undergraduate research assistant! — Sept 9, 2020
We are seeking an undergraduate with a strong interest in terrestrial ecosystem ecology for an REU position this summer. The student would work on a project in forests of the southern Appalachian mountains studying the nitrogen cycle and disturbance. Interested students can apply by sending Dr. Nina Wurzburger (ninawurz@uga.edu) the following by March 20th, 2020: A cover letter stating their interest and qualifications and a CV or resume with contact information of 2 references. — March, 2020.
Congratulations to Jessie for winning an award for her talk at the Graduate Student Symposium! — Feb 19, 2020
Welcome to Anna Burkhart, Garrett Churchwell, Quinn Hiers, Irenee Payne and Larkin Stiles, our new interns! — Jan 14, 2020
Congratulations to Dana for successfully defending her M.S. thesis! — Nov 6, 2019
Nina recently visited the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies to give a seminar, and had a great time meeting with Cary scientists and visiting with Sarah Batterman and her lab group! — Oct 20, 2019
We are recruiting a new PhD student to join the lab and work on a new project about mycorrhizal fungi and biogeochemistry. Ideal qualifications include an MS in ecology, forest biology or soil science, or substantial research experience. Start date of spring, summer or fall of 2020. Interested students can send their CV and research statement to Nina Wurzburger (ninawurz@uga.edu) — Sept 6, 2019
We have two new graduate students joining the lab this fall - welcome to Sarah Ottinger, MS student and welcome (back) to Melanie Taylor, PhD student — Aug 9, 2019
Our longleaf pine research is showcased on UGA today. Thanks to Beth Gavrilles for the great write up! — July 31, 2019
Erik gave an excellent presentation at the Coweeta Symposium on his summer research. He is now heading back to Humboldt State for his final semester as an undergrad. We will miss you Erik! — July 31, 2019
Congratulations to Jeff! His paper on drought, nitrogen fixation and forest recovery has been accepted in Ecology — July 12, 2019
Welcome to Erik Ramos, our REU student this summer! — June 1, 2019
Jessie, Carter and Hannah are graduating! Carter will be a summer technician with us and Jessie is matriculating into our graduate program to pursue an M.S. in Ecology. Congrats to you all! — May 2, 2019
Our collaborative study on nitrogen fixation in tropical forests of Trinidad, led by Jack Brookshire, has been accepted in Scientific Reports —May 2, 2019.
Congratulations to Julie! Her first first-author paper on the nitrogen imbalance of longleaf pine savannas was accepted in Ecology — March 29, 2019
Nina enjoyed her visit to Emory University last week, where she met with students and faculty and gave a seminar in the PBEE (Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution) program. — Feb 24, 2019
Nina participated in a New Phytologist workshop last week in Sommieres, France and had a great time discussing how root functional traits affect plant and ecosystem functioning with a number of new colleagues. — Jan 27, 2019
At the end of last year we wished Andres all the best in his new adventures, and at the start of this year we welcome Carter Coleman and Hannah Goldberg, our new undergraduate researchers. — Jan 11, 2019
Carly's paper on soil respiration in arctic tundra has been accepted and is online in Pedobiologia - Journal of Soil Ecology — Nov 6, 2018
Megan's paper on the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration has been published in Biogeochemistry! — Oct 23, 2018
Nina gave a seminar in the Environmental Studies department at UCSC and had a great time meeting with students and faculty. — Oct 11, 2018
The Odum School has begun an Ecology Teaching Postdoctoral Program. Applications are due Nov 20, 2018.
A belated congratulations to Dana, who won 2nd place for her talk at the Graduate Student Symposium earlier this year. — Sept 24, 2018
Jessie received a travel fellowship to attend the LTER All Scientists Meeting in October and will present her REU (and ongoing) research! — Sept 7, 2018
Carly successfully defended her dissertation! — Jul 1, 2018
Carly is published! A big congratulations to Carly - her first first-author paper on arctic warming was published in Ecosystems, and her Working life editorial came out in Science magazine! — May 11, 2018
End of semester news —A special thanks and congratulations to Sumaya and Rose for their hard work in the lab and for earning degrees in Ecology! Best of luck as you move on to new adventures. We also welcome 3 new undergrads to the lab - Ramar Allen, Annabelle Barr and Jessie Motes! — May 11, 2018
Undergraduate researchers — Sumaya and Grace Anne presented their research at the undergraduate research symposium, and Grace Anne won the Juror's Choice Award. Congrats to you both!— May 1, 2018
Special Feature and new publication — Nina and Karina Clemmensen's Special Feature on mycorrhizal fungi and ecosystem processes was published in Journal of Ecology - including a number of great papers! And Mike's MS thesis on herbaceous legumes of longleaf pine was published in Oecologia. Apr 3, 2018
Congrats to Jeff for successfully defending his dissertation! — Jan 3, 2018
End of summer news — Congratulations to Julie for earning an MS in ecology.. and we wished a fond farewell to both Julie and Kelsey over Banh Mi lunch as they move on to new adventures. Sep 8, 2017
New additions to the lab — Dana Carpenter, a new M.S. student and Ellie Fowler, a new technician recently joined the lab! In other news, Kelsey was promoted to Technician. Welcome and congratulations! — Jun 19, 2017
Jeff's first first-author paper on drought frequency has been accepted by New Phytologist. Congrats Jeff! — Feb 17, 2017
Wurzburger lab dominates Symposium awards — Carly, Julie, Kelsey and Sumaya all won awards for their presentations at the Graduate Student Symposium! Congratulations! — Feb 8, 2017
Nina, Jack, Luke and Rick wrote a meeting report for their ESA Organized Oral Session on mycorrhizal fungi. It is now published in New Phytologist. Jan 12, 2017
Carly, Julie and Nina had a great time at AGU ... and Megan's paper on the seasonality of enzyme activity came out in Biogeochemistry! —Jan 3, 2017
Congrats to Megan, Carly and Jeff. Their collaborative paper on extracellular enzyme activity has been accepted in Biogeochemistry! — Nov 11, 2016
Nina's visit to Cornell — Nina gave a talk in Cornell's Biogeochemistry seminar series last week and had a great time visiting with students and faculty! Oct 7, 2016
Undergrad Invasion —The Wurzburger lab has recently been invaded by a number of talented undergrads. Welcome to Grace Anne, Evan and Sumaya, who are conducting independent research! We also welcome two new undergrad helpers, Megan and Clarissa! — Aug 30, 2016
ESA 2016 —We had a great time at ESA last week. Melanie and Julie gave excellent talks in our organized sessions on mycorrhizal fungi and soil ecology. — Aug 18, 2016
Congrats to Mike! —Mike successfully defended his MS thesis on the factors regulating symbiotic N fixation in longleaf pine ecosystems. Jul 11, 2016
Lab news — Over the last few months, there have been several notable achievements in the lab. Carly received an NSF DDIG, Julie received an honorable mention for her NSF GRFP, Jenna completed her dual B.S. in Ecology and Statistics, Nina received the UGA Early Career Scholar Award and Melanie's manuscript was accepted in Journal of Ecology. Congrats to all! — Jun 20, 2016
Welcome back Carly! — Carly has returned to Athens after spending several months at the University of Copenhagen and Center for Permafrost Research as an NSF GROW fellow! We are glad to have you back! — Mar 4, 2016
Erin defends her M.S. thesis — Erin successfully defended her M.S. thesis on American chestnut and plant-soil feedbacks. Congratulations Erin! —Jul 27, 2015
Courtney's manuscript accepted —Courtney's MS thesis on the root functional traits of tropical trees and lianas has been accepted for publication in Oecologia! Congrats Courtney! —Jul 27, 2015
Welcome Julie — We welcome Julie Tierney, a new MS student in Ecology, to the lab! — Jun 29, 2015
Carly and Jeff are ABD — Carly and Jeff advanced to candidacy this spring! Congrats to you both! — Jun 18, 2015
News! —Melanie successfully defended her M.S. thesis and Mike was awarded an honorable mention for his NSF GRFP! Congrats! —Apr 20, 2015
Symposium Awards — Carly and Erin won first place in their respective (PhD and MS) categories for their talks at the Odum School's Graduate Student Symposium! — Feb 9, 2015
New lab members — We welcome Andres Baron (lab manager and technician) and Kelsey Morton (undergraduate assistant) to the lab! —Jan 25, 2015
End of year celebrations! — We celebrated the end of the year and wished a fond farewell to Austin with a lab hike (identifying 31 tree species along the way) and a white elephant gift exchange. Thanks to everyone for the fun times! — Dec 10, 2014
Lab Retreat — Last weekend was our lab retreat. We went to Watson Mill Bridge State Park and spent the day hiking, identifying tree species, eating yummy food and playing in the shoals. Thanks to all for making it a fun day! — Sep 24, 2014
Welcome — Fall semester is upon us and we welcome Mike Ament (PhD student) and Jenna Peissig (undergraduate researcher) to the lab! — Aug 20, 2014
Bon voyage Shialoh! —We all bid a fond farewell to Shialoh this month, who has secured a new position in the Odum School. We are sad to see her go, but happy we can still see her every day. Congratulations Shialoh! Jul 25, 2014
New Lab Members — Since spring semester, we have had four new undergraduate assistants join the lab: Connor Timpone, Amy Johnson, David Blount and Breanna Walker. Welcome to all! Jun 4, 2014
Lab News — There have been a number of achievements in the lab the last year. Carly received grants for her arctic research from the Explorer's Club and the Lewis and Clark Fund! Melanie won second place for her talk at the Graduate Student Symposium! Jeff was awarded a Small Grant from the Odum School! Nina was awarded best oral paper in Forest, Range and Wildland Div of the SSSA and was awarded Faculty Instructor of the Year from the Odum School! Congratulations to all! May 30, 2014
Lab News — We had a very productive summer! We began displacing throughfall at our site in the southern Appalachians this June thanks to the hard work of Team Drought, Austin and Shialoh helped launch our longleaf pine project, Carly and I visited Toolik Lake to begin a new project in the arctic tundra and meanwhile Megan and Meryom have been busy with soil incubations and enzyme assays. We welcome Melanie Taylor, a new graduate student to the lab and we wish Courtney all the best as she begins a new job at University of Alabama. —Aug 4, 2013
Departure and arrival— A fond farewell and congratulations to Dina... who completed her B.S. this month. And a warm welcome to Meryom Patillo, our new undergraduate assistant. — May 29, 2013
Courtney successfully defended her M.S. thesis! — Courtney has done an amazing job of earning an M.S. in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development in only 20 months! After excavating, washing, scanning and analyzing over 1500 m of fine roots from tropical forests as part of her research, Courtney is now a "Root Master". Congratulations Courtney! May 2, 2013
Congratulations Carly! — Carly has been awarded an NSF GRFP Fellowship for her proposal on arctic soil C and microbes! Way to go Carly! —Apr 1, 2013
Welcoming Austin — After completing his B.S. in Ecology, Austin has joined the lab again, this time as a Technician. Welcome back Austin! —Mar 28, 2013
Success at the Graduate Student Symposium! — The Wurzburger lab was well represented at the Odum School's Graduate Student Symposium last month. Courtney was a coordinator of the (very well organized) event this year and Jeff and Carly both won awards for their presentations. Congratulations to you all! —Feb 4, 2013
Lab Retreat — Last friday was our fall lab retreat at the State Botanical Gardens. We were out bright and early to hike in the forest and enjoy the fall colors. We topped it off with a picnic on the lawn. Thanks to all for sharing food and making it a fun morning! —Nov 4, 2012
Recruiting Graduate Students — I am recruiting graduate students to start in summer or fall of 2013 on a new research project on the N cycle of longleaf pine ecosystems. The project has a particular focus on N fixation (via legumes, soil crusts and free-living bacteria) across different disturbance regimes and fire frequencies. Strong candidates will have an M.S. in ecology or soil science or have previous research experience in terrestrial biogeochemistry, and competitive GPA and GRE scores. Prospective students can contact me directly (Nina Wurzburger ninawurz@gmail.com) and send a CV and brief statement of research interests. —Oct 19, 2012
Lab News — Summer is winding down and fall semester is upon us... Courtney is back after a successful field season in Panama, hundreds of feet of trenches were dug at our field site in Cowee valley thanks to Jeff, Austin, Brice and Shialoh, a fond farewell to Kelly as she starts a new postdoc in CA and we welcome several new lab members: Carly Phillips (PhD student Ecology), Dina Abdulhadi (undergraduate assistant) and Tierney O'Sullivan (undergraduate assistant). — Sep 4, 2012
Welcoming more folks to the lab... — Welcome to new lab members: Jeff Minucci (PhD student), Austin Martin (undergraduate student) and Brice Howell (undergraduate student)! —Jun 29, 2012
Welcome to new lab members — We welcome Kelly Andersen (Postdoctoral Research Associate) and Courtney Collins (M.S. student in Conservation Ecology) to the lab! —Aug 14, 2011
Recruiting graduate student — I am recruiting a well qualified M.S. (or Ph.D.) student to join the lab January 2012 to conduct research on climate change in southern Appalachian forests. The goal of this work is to understand how extreme drought events can influence plant-soil relationships, plant competition and ecosystem processes in early successional forests (see Research for more details). Prospective students are asked to contact me (Nina Wurzburger ninawurz@gmail.com) and send a CV and a brief statement of their research interests. —Aug 13, 2011