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Docherty lab
microbial ecology

Latest news is posted via the lab Instagram account:

@docherty_microecolab

We invite you to participate in a research project about how native grassland installations impact soil health, biodiversity, and urban sustainability in the City of Kalamazoo. This study is conducted by researchers at Western Michigan University and the Michigan Geological Survey, and it has been approved by WMU’s Human Subjects Institutional Review Board protocol IRB 2025-171.
If you have installed or maintained native prairie/grassland plants on your property, then your participation could help us better understand the environmental benefits of these installations. We’re seeking landowners within the City of Kalamazoo who manage properties with both native Michigan grasslands and traditional lawns. If this is you, or someone you know, we would be thrilled to include the site in our study. https://garrettringle.wixsite.com/kzoonativeplantsproj Use the QR code or this link to find out more. #nativemichiganplants #nativemichiganwildflowers #soilhealth #prairie #kalamazoogardens #nativegardening #pollinatorgardening #pollinatorgardens

We invite you to participate in a research project about how native grassland installations impact soil health, biodiversity, and urban sustainability in the City of Kalamazoo. This study is conducted by researchers at Western Michigan University and the Michigan Geological Survey, and it has been approved by WMU’s Human Subjects Institutional Review Board protocol IRB 2025-171.
If you have installed or maintained native prairie/grassland plants on your property, then your participation could help us better understand the environmental benefits of these installations. We’re seeking landowners within the City of Kalamazoo who manage properties with both native Michigan grasslands and traditional lawns. If this is you, or someone you know, we would be thrilled to include the site in our study. https://garrettringle.wixsite.com/kzoonativeplantsproj Use the QR code or this link to find out more. #nativemichiganplants #nativemichiganwildflowers #soilhealth #prairie #kalamazoogardens #nativegardening #pollinatorgardening #pollinatorgardens

Excited to be starting to work with the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi to understand how soil health will change on their land after prairie restoration.

Excited to be starting to work with the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi to understand how soil health will change on their land after prairie restoration.

These two crushed it at their first ESA meeting 😊 Great job Maggie and Angela! Collectively their research shows that while many soil health parameters remain the same in old fields and restorations planted with 12 or 70 plant species, bacterial community composition is very different, resulting in different, resulting in different rhizosphere microbes associating with 2 common prairie plants. #esa2025 #womeninstem #womeninsoilscience

These two crushed it at their first ESA meeting 😊 Great job Maggie and Angela! Collectively their research shows that while many soil health parameters remain the same in old fields and restorations planted with 12 or 70 plant species, bacterial community composition is very different, resulting in different, resulting in different rhizosphere microbes associating with 2 common prairie plants. #esa2025 #womeninstem #womeninsoilscience

Docherty lab is at #esa2025 in Baltimore. Come check out Angela’s and Maggie’s latest work on soil microbial ecology in prairie restorations. Kathryn will be sharing some of the first soil health data from our prairie strips research. All on Monday!

Docherty lab is at #esa2025 in Baltimore. Come check out Angela’s and Maggie’s latest work on soil microbial ecology in prairie restorations. Kathryn will be sharing some of the first soil health data from our prairie strips research. All on Monday!

Last day of prairie strip sampling in 2025 for the USDA SARE project! Two beautiful 25+ year old strips on a farm near Richland, MI. I’m tired now. 🥱 #prairiestrips #mistrips #usdasare

Last day of prairie strip sampling in 2025 for the USDA SARE project! Two beautiful 25+ year old strips on a farm near Richland, MI. I’m tired now. 🥱 #prairiestrips #mistrips #usdasare

Great event yesterday at Shady Side Farm in Holland talking about “Prairie Strips that Pay”and many other regenerative ag practices that protect soil health. Big thanks to Mike Bronkema, and all the folks @ottawa.cd and @kbslter for making this event a success!

Great event yesterday at Shady Side Farm in Holland talking about “Prairie Strips that Pay”and many other regenerative ag practices that protect soil health. Big thanks to Mike Bronkema, and all the folks @ottawa.cd and @kbslter for making this event a success!

Congratulations to Skyler Blue on completing her 10 week #reu program @kbslter! Her work shows that prairie strips accumulate microbial biomass carbon and soil organic matter in a variety of cropping systems, and that keeping prairie strips in place for about 10 years seems to be a sweet spot for many soil health benefits. Great job Skyler and her mentor @angela.sarat!

Congratulations to Skyler Blue on completing her 10 week #reu program @kbslter! Her work shows that prairie strips accumulate microbial biomass carbon and soil organic matter in a variety of cropping systems, and that keeping prairie strips in place for about 10 years seems to be a sweet spot for many soil health benefits. Great job Skyler and her mentor @angela.sarat!

The big one: KBS LTAR sampling day. 96 samples, 14 fields, 5 crops, and 1152 individual soil cores. Thanks to all the folks who helped make it happen! @kbslter #mistrips #prairie strips #womeninstem

The big one: KBS LTAR sampling day. 96 samples, 14 fields, 5 crops, and 1152 individual soil cores. Thanks to all the folks who helped make it happen! @kbslter #mistrips #prairie strips #womeninstem

Getting to the root of the issue…Marie and Odessa are looking at beet roots to see if regenerative agricultural practices influence possible associations with beneficial fungi. #delanofarms

Getting to the root of the issue…Marie and Odessa are looking at beet roots to see if regenerative agricultural practices influence possible associations with beneficial fungi. #delanofarms

Maggie running tons of POXC in the lab this week. 🤩

Maggie running tons of POXC in the lab this week. 🤩

Lots of sampling on five different farms over the past two days, where farmers are doing amazing things with their land and their soil. Early harvests this year across the board, from wheat to beets! #mistrips #soilhealth @mia_breznau @_mariemckinney_

Lots of sampling on five different farms over the past two days, where farmers are doing amazing things with their land and their soil. Early harvests this year across the board, from wheat to beets! #mistrips #soilhealth @mia_breznau @_mariemckinney_

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