Photo by Kirsten Bosnak, KBS

 

On March 2, 2020, Kansas NSF EPSCoR held its annual research symposium highlighting the accomplishments of the RII Track-1 Award OIA-1656006 titled: Microbiomes of Aquatic, Plant, and Soil Systems across Kansas (MAPS). Over 130 high school students and teachers, undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and institutional leaders from across the state attended the event.

Opening remarks were given by Dr. Belinda Sturm, Associate Vice Chancellor of Research and Professor of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas (KU), and Dr. Kristin Bowman-James, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of Kansas (KU) and Director Kansas NSF EPSCoR. Dr. Sharon Billings, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Senior Scientist with Kansas Biological Survey and MAPS Co-principal investigator at KU provided an overview of the project and highlighted a few of the exciting findings the collaborations have produced. Dr. Jim Tiedje, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and former Director of the Center for Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University delivered his keynote presentation titled Unpacking Microbial Diversity. The Directors of the Haskell Environmental Research Studies Institute, Dr. Jay T. Johnson, Professor and Associate Chair of Geography & Atmospheric Science and Director of C-FIRST at KU and Mr. Cody Marshall, instructor of Indigenous and American Indian Studies at Haskell Indian Nations University provided a discussion of mentoring students and the broader impacts of the HERS program. The HERS institute is a major workforce development and education initiative supported by the Kansas NSF EPSCoR MAPS Award.  The rest of the morning and early afternoon sessions were full of illuminating Flash Talks from MAPS faculty and first award recipients and Lightening Talks from MAPS postdocs and graduate students.  The topics covered in these talks discussed MAPS research and the Kansas Ecosystems,  for Elementary Students (KEES) program another MAPS workforce development and education initiative. Dr. Peggy Schultz, Associate Specialist with the Environmental Studies Program at KU is the director of the KEES program.

High school students from Maize High School in Maize, Kansas discussed additional K-12 broader impacts of the MAPS educational initiatives as a result of their phenomenon driven, problems-based learning project. This project was developed by their science teacher Mrs. Amy Hammett’s, during her participation in the 2018 MAPS Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute for Kansas high school teachers. The institute is also under the direction of Dr. Shultz.  Then, a panel of undergraduate students who participated in the MAPS Summer Research Experiences (REU) and HERS programs discussed how these two programs have impacted their academic focus and career aspirations. The event concluded with a poster session featuring 32 research,  workforce development programs and museum outreach projects. The following is a list of poster presentations:

1.MAPS Aquatic Team 2020

Amy Burgin (KU), Walter Dodds (KSU), Matt Kirk (KSU), Belinda Sturm (KU), Lydia Zeglin (KSU) (co-Is); Samantha Thomas (KU), Justin Brisendine (KSU), Kyle Cochran (KSU, Katherine Culbertson (KSU), Alex Wolher (KSU), Dev Hiripitiyage (KU) (techs); Josh Dimapilis (KSU), Janaye Hanschu (KU), Anne Schechner (KSU), Kynser Wahwahsuck (KU), Bre Waterman (KSU), Jess Wilhelm (KU) (grad students); Madison Foster (KU), Kiona Freeman (KSU), Jacquiline Lopez, Molly Fisher (KSU), Abagael Pruitt (KU) (undergrads)

2.Testing effects of land-use history and precipitation on the form and function of the plant microbiome

Jim Bever (KU), Mitch Greer (FHSU), Greg Houseman (WSU), Ari Jumpponen (KSU), Sonny Lee (KSU), Tom Platt (KSU), Ben Sikes (KU), Maggie Wagner (KU), Morgan Noland (FHSU), Austin Yoder (KU), Kelly Mecke (KU), Mohammad  Abdelhameed (FHSU), Jacob Hadle (WSU), Liz Koziol (KU), Susan Magnoli (KU), Tatiana Semenova Nelson (KU), Paige Hansen (KU), Annie Telegin (KU), Theo Michaels (KU), Laura Podzikowski (KU), Rebekah Wagner (KU),  Kyle Ismert (KSU), Anna Kazarina (KSU), Hannah Dea (KSU), Ashlee Herken (KSU), Abbe Urban (WSU), Scout Harrison (FHSU)

3. Synthesis across influence of plant, soil and aquatic microbiomes on ecosystem function

Fola Agusto (KU), Jim Bever (KU), Sharon Billings (KU), Walter Dodds (KU), Tom Platt (KSU), Ben Sikes (KU), Pamela Sullivan (OSU), Aakash Pandey (KSU), Rob Ramos (KU), Rebekah Wagner (KU)

4. MAPS Soil Group Overarching Projects and Themes

All members of the MAPS Soil Group have contributed to this effort

5. MAPS Kansas Ecosystems for Elementary Students (KEES) and the Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute for high school teachers

Peggy Schultz, Terra Lubin (KU)

6. Microbiomes of Grass Rhizospheres as Potential Mechanisms of Invasion

Scout Harrison and Mitchell J Greer (FHSU)

7. Design and Capabilities of an Automated Minirhizotron Camera System

Yuqi Song, Colby James Moorberg, and Jose Guilherme Cesario Pereira Pinto (KSU)

8. Kansas Soil Health Partnership

Carlos Bonini Pires, Marcos Sarto, Dorivar Ruiz Diaz, Ignacio Ciampitti, Charles W. Rice (KSU)

9. Radiation Waste: Effects of Uranium Contamination on the Navajo Nation Ponderosa Pine Community

Daryline Dayzie (Haskell)

10. Patterns in land use, geography and total coliform bacteria concentrations in drinking water sources for the Santee Sioux Nation

Amanda Rouillard (Haskell)

11. Enzyme Extraction from Soil for Thermal Proteome Profiling Applications.

Wambura E. Chacha, Justin M. Hutchison (KU)

12. A Preliminary Design of a Droplet-Based Microfluidic Chip for Studying Cell-Cell Interactions

Ethan McDaniel, Sindhu Preetham Burugupally, Kunza Arifa, Bhargav Koppolu (WSU)

13. Messy Data, Real Science: Exploring harmful algal blooms with real-world data

High School Student Researchers: Cora Bartlett, Ryan Fullerton, Jacob Hanna, Aidan Leon, Jason Lin, Isaac Stanton (Maize HS) Project Leaders/Advisors: Amy Hammett (Maize HS), Ted Harris (KBS), Emily Kinzinger (MU), Rebecca North (MU), Ryan Fullerton (KU)

14. Measuring the effect of nutrient and glyphosate run-off on algal communities within mesocosms

Andrew Ising (Baldwin High School AP Biology Class), Ted Harris (KU)

15. Microbes on the Move: Exploring microbiomes through mobile museum experiences

Teresa MacDonald, Colleen MacGilvray, Eleanor Gardner (KU)

16. Nitrogen cycling and ecosystem metabolism in Kansas streams draining cropland vs. grassland watersheds

Kynser Wahwahsuck, Norma Snelding, Amy Burgin, (KU)

17. How root exudates organic acids change soil pH and affect nutrient availability, across different land-use history

Steven Winkler, Lígia Souza, Dr. Sharon Billings (KU)

18. Detection of the fungus, Macrophomina phaseolina, under different land-uses across KS

Tyler Newman, Gregory Houseman PhD (WSU)

19. Patterns in human influences in deep soil horizons

Sharon Billings (KU), Klyer Lang (KU), Pam Sullivan (Oregon State), Ligia Souza (KU), Chuck Rice (KSU), Terry Loecke (KU), Matt Sena (KU)

20. Soil health across a precipitation gradient with different land uses

Marcos V. M. Sarto, Carlos A. B. Pires, James Lin, and Charles W. Rice (KSU)

21. Influence of Precipitation and Land Use on Pore Geometry in Soils with Vertic Properties

Matthew G. Sena (KU), Pamela L. Sullivan (Oregon State), Daniel R. Hirmas (KU), Sharon A. Billings (KU)

22. Does prairie restoration also restore prairie bacterial communities?

Hannah Dea (KSU), Anna Kazarina (KSU), Paige Hansen (KU), Kyle Ismert (KSU), Thomas Platt (KSU), Ben Sikes (KU), Ari Jumpponen (KSU)

23. Variation in soil redox conditions with land use across the Kansas precipitation gradient.

Stephan Koenigsberger (KSU), Matthew F Kirk (KSU), Marcos Mansano Sarto (KSU), Matthew VanderPutten (KSU), Drew E Latta (U of Iowa), Terrance D Loecke (KU), Benjamin A Sikes (KU), Paige Hansen (KU)

24. Effect of Land Use and Precipitation on Soil Properties with Depth

James S. Lin (KSU), Marcos V. M. Sarto (KSU), Carlos A. B. Pires (KSU), Charles W. Rice (KSU), Matt Kirk (KSU), Sharon A. Billings (KU), Terry Loecke (KU), Pam Sullivan (Oregon State)

25. Contribution of Groundwater Discharge to Streamflow and Implications on Stream Biogeochemistry Across KS Aridity Gradient

Bre Waterman (KSU), Matthew Kirk (KSU), Gonzo Jr. Alcantar, Samantha Thomas (KU), Matt VanderPutten (KSU), Lucas Leininger (KSU)

26. Biogeochemical implications of stream intermittency across the precipitation gradient in Kansas

Jessica Wilhelm, Amy Burgin (KU)

27. Limited Evidence for Ecotypic Adaptation of Ascomycetes to Drought

Kyle Ismert (KSU), Ayanna Castro-Ross (KSU), Andrea Porras-Alfaro (Western Illinois U), Jennifer Rudgers (UNM), Chris Anderton (PNNL), Natalie Sadler (PNNL), Arunima Bhattacharjee (PNNL), Janet Jansson (PNNL), Kirsten Hofmockel (PNNL), Aaron Wright (PNNL), Hardeep Mehta (PNNL), Ari Jumpponen (KSU)

28. Does plant biodiversity drive fungal pathogen composition?

Haley Burrill, Guangzhou Wang, James Bever (KU)

29. Differential recovery of nitrogen cycling soil microbial functional groups following the cessation of chronic fertilization

Matthew Nieland (KSU), Priscilla Moley (KSU), Janaye Hanschu (KU), and Lydia H. Zeglin (KSU)

30. Evidence resource partitioning in part explains biodiversity effects on plant productivity.

Laura Y. Podzikowski, Bryan L. Foster, Kristen Mecke, James D. Bever, (KU)

31. Variation in stream microbiome across the Kansas Precipitation and Land Use Gradients

Janaye Hanschu (KU), Kyle Cochran (KSU), Abagael Pruitt (KU), Amy J. Burgin (KU), Samantha G. Thomas (KU), Emma Overstreet (KU), Lydia H. Zeglin (KSU)

32. Nitrogen form and concentrations effects on toxic harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) in Kansas lakes

Janaye Hanschu, Abagael Pruitt, Bri Richards, and Amy Burgin (KU)

March 1 & 2, 2020 MAPS Symposium Presentations

Research, workforce development, education, and outreach funding for the 2020 MAPS annual symposium meeting 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 research, workforce development, and educational objectives are designed to support 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.