Dr. Michelle Wong, PI (she/her/hers)
I am currently an assistant professor in the Yale EEB department. Previously, I was a postdoctoral scientist working with Dr. Sarah Batterman at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. I did my PhD in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, advised by Dr. Robert Howarth. There, I studied the interactions of nutrients and fire on nitrogen fixation in the southeastern Amazon in collaboration with scientists from IPAM and the Woodwell Climate Research Center at Tanguro Ranch in Mato Grosso, Brazil. I spent a semester through the NSF GROW program at the University of Brasilia with Dr. Mercedes Bustamante's lab group. At Cornell, I was also advised by Lou Derry, Natalie Mahowald, and Tim Fahey. Prior to graduate school, I worked as an environmental scientist at the Department of Pesticide Regulation under the Cal/EPA, and as a lab and field technician in Dr. Whendee Silver’s lab at U.C. Berkeley, where I also obtained my B.A. and B.S. I grew up in Sacramento, CA and didn’t always know that I wanted to be a scientist. You can read more about my journey here.
Dr. Mareli Sanchez Julia, Hutchinson postdoctoral scholar (she/her/hers)
I am interested in understanding forest composition, function, and regeneration from a belowground perspective. For example, how plants differentially acquire and use soil-derived nutrients, how flexible and abiotically-mediated is plant carbon allocation to root fungal symbionts (arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal fungi), and how plant-fungal interactions impact plant species composition across soil fertility gradients. As a postdoc, I plan to study plant species capable of establishing dual mycorrhizal symbioses to understand the ecosystem-level implications of the EM and AM functional categories. I received a PhD from Tulane University, where I studied the community ecology of endophytes and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with tropical trees, and received a B.S. from Wofford College, where I majored in Biology and Environmental Studies. I am originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Nik Blanadet, PhD student (he/him/his)
I am generally interested in the role of plants in nutrient cycling. Currently, I'm interested in the role of wood in cycling micronutrients within ecosystems. I also have a general interest in biogeography, disturbance ecology, and using stable isotopes in ecology. I graduated from UC Berkeley in 2021 with a degree in Molecular Environmental Biology, and my senior thesis in the Dawson lab studied the change in water sources of manzanita (Arctostaphylos) post-fire. Post-bac, I worked as a research associate in Margaret Torn's lab at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, studying the effect of soil warming on soil carbon cycling.
Shuo Wei, PhD student (in the Comita lab) (he/him/his)
I am interested in forest regeneration and dynamics, applying trait-based ecology to understand how plant communities adapt to chronic environmental stresses in mid-elevation cloud forests, and bridging the gap between forest ecology and silviculture practices. I obtained his Bachelor's degree in the Department of Forestry and Resource Conservation at National Taiwan University. Then I completed his Master’s degree with Prof. David Zelený, studying the early-stage regeneration of Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana seedlings in Taiwan (see publication here). I also studied the density-dependence of plant-soil microbe interactions with Prof. Po-Ju Ke. Currently, I am extending my interest to incorporating how phosphorus limitation and typhoon disturbance might together shape community dynamics in tropical and subtropical forests.
Rachel Shaw, PhD student (she/her/hers)
My research interests lie in the fields of biogeochemistry and ecosystem ecology, specifically focused on the processes that contribute to carbon and nitrogen cycling in tropical wetlands, and how these processes will be/are being impacted by global climate change. I was postgraduate associate in Yale’s EEB department under the mentorship of Dr. Eric Slessarev and Dr. Michelle Wong. I received a B.S. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and a B.A. in Spanish from Hope College in Holland, MI, and am originally from Columbus, OH.
Dana Frankenstein, PhD student (she/her/hers)
My research interests focus on plant-soil feedbacks and soil biogeochemistry. More specifically, I am interested in roots and their interactions with geochemical factors to mediate nutrient cycling, especially soil carbon dynamics. I received a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a minor in Hispanic Studies from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. During undergrad, I studied how root volatile compounds and soil moisture mediate nematode behavior as an NSF REU fellow (see publication here). As a post-bac research intern at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, I used isotope-tracing methods to determine how various root exudates mediate soil carbon accrual under mentorship of Dr. Matthew Craig. Subsequently, I spent two years as research associate in Dr. Shelby Rinehart’s lab at Drexel University and The University of Rhode Island, where I studied litter decomposition across an urban heat island gradient (see publication here). I was born and raised in Germany and moved to the United States in 2018.
Benny Seidman, undergraduate researcher (he/him/his)
I'm a Junior from Eugene, Oregon, majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. My research focuses on the effects of ecological disturbance on nutrient cycling in forested ecosystems with a focus on wood nutrients. I'm especially interested in the land use and public health implications of altered disturbance regimes with ever-increasing wildland fire and logging taking place in forested landscapes.
Wyatt Aiken, undergraduate researcher (he/him/his)
I am a second year student from Fairhope, Alabama, planning to major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. My research interests focus on how plants acquire and process information from their environment, as well as the role of microbes in plant development.
Sarah Galvani-Townsend, undergraduate researcher (she/her/hers)
I am a first-year undergraduate at Yale planning to major in Environmental Studies. My research in the DEEP Lab focuses on how belowground processes such as mycorrhizal networks, carbon allocation, and soil nutrient dynamics influence plant growth and forest regeneration. I work on experiments measuring plant biomass, photosynthetic rates, and root traits to better understand the ecological mechanisms that shape restoration outcomes.
I am from New Haven, Connecticut, and I am broadly interested in ecosystem recovery and the intersection of ecological research with public health and environmental justice. In the future, I hope to pursue research that informs climate-resilient restoration and conservation strategies.
Group photos prior to the renovation of Osborn Memorial Labs, taken December 2024. (Not pictured: Nirjhar, Pengyan, and Guopeng)
Lab alumni
Dr. Guopeng Liang, Brown postdoctoral scholar (he/him/his) (2024-2026)
Dr. Guopeng Liang was a Brown postdoctoral fellow at Yale and is now currently an Assistant Professor at Hong Kong University. His research interests focus on the effects of environmental change (e.g. warming, drought, and nitrogen deposition) and agricultural management (e.g. tillage and fertilization) on soil carbon cycling and plant productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. In our lab, he studied the roles of soil fertility in tree mortality and productivity and the effects of nutrient addition on plant productivity and soil carbon cycling.
Pengyan Sun, research intern (she/her/hers) (2024-2026)
Pengyan's research focused on using statistical methods to investigate the role of soil in ecosystem functions.
Sara Hoffman, YIBS SURES intern (she/her/hers) (2026)
Sara is an upcoming senior undergraduate at Bucknell University majoring in biology and environmental science. For her summer project at Yale, she researched root exudation in Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Sara is looking to further my education in a masters program focused on environmental research, and long term would like to work for an environmental nonprofit.
Helen Shanefield, undergraduate researcher (she/her/hers) (2024-2026)
Helen majored in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale. While in the lab, Helen began researching how soil fertility affects seedling survival rates across tropical forest restoration project and conducted her thesis under the mentorship of Mareli to understanding dual mycorrhizal associations in oaks and carbon allocation to mycorrhizal fungi. She is originally from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi and am interested in pursuing research relating to Hawaiʻi's native ecosystems and endemic plants in the future. Helen will began her masters research at Purdue in the fall of 2026.
Nirjhar Kabery, affiliate researcher (she/her/hers) (2024-2025)
Nirjhar was a Yale affiliate and interested in biogeochemistry, and processes and dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems. She is currently an NSF RaMP scholar at the University of Texas at El Paso in the Moody Lab and will begin a masters program at the University of Kansas in the fall of 2026.
Alika Ting, undergraduate researcher (she/her/hers) (2024-2025)
Alika majored in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale and completed her senior thesis focused is on the interactions between fertilization and root exudate production in temperate tree species. She is generally interested in soil science, ecology, and agriculture. Alika moved onto a postbac at Yale in the Dal Bello lab and is currently an intern at the Carbon Containment Lab.
Guilherme Macedo de Alencar, YIBS SURES intern (he/him/his) (2025)
Gui is currently a PhD student in Brazil at the University of Campinas, and was a summer intern working on root exudates at Hubbard Brook. He is interested in understanding how plant communities are structured and how they function, and how these dynamics influence ecosystem processes. He sees what happens belowground as a key piece of that puzzle.