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Research Group

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Cynthia Kallenbach; Assistant Professor

Cynthia is in the Natural Resource Sciences department at McGill University. She has a MSc in International Agricultural Development and in Soils and Biogeochemistry from University of California, Davis and a PhD in Earth and Environmental Science from the University of New Hampshire. She values collaborations across disciplines and is  excited about applying fundamental ecological theories to understand how soil responds to agriculture and climate change.
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Sophie Burgess,  MSc; co-supervised with Ian Strachan, McGill and Queens University

Sophie is studying carbon inputs and outputs at the Mer Bleue Bog sediment marsh in Ontario. She is determinmg the source and fate of carbon in this system to help understand how it is a net carbon sink ecosystem.  
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Melanie Burnett , PhD candidate; co-supervised with Peter Douglas

Melanie has a MSc. from the University of Alaska where she examined denitrification and nitrous oxide emission in soils and sediments of the boreal forest. Her dissertation is linking greenhouse gas emissions in permafrost ponds with upstream soil processes and coupled soil carbon and nitrogen cycling. Melanie holds an FRQNT scholarship.

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Deniz Dutton, MSc; co-supervised with Mary-Cathrine Leewis, AAFC 

Deniz has a BSc in Environmental Science from the University of Vermont, where she researched the effect of timber harvesting and wood decomposition on saprophytic fungal communities and soil carbon in temperate deciduous forests. Deniz's thesis is on the interactive effects of crop diversity and precipitation variation on soil microbial communities as they relate to crop and soil productivity in agricultural settings. Deniz is a NSERC-CREATE Climate Smart Soils fellow.

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Rachael Harman-Denhoed, MSc; co-supervised with Mary-Cathrine Leewis, AAFC

Rachael's thesis research is on the interactive effects of seasonal flooding and land-use disturbance on microbial community responses that influence soil carbon and nutrient cycling. She completed her BSc at University of Victoria in 2018 where she examined stoichiometric C:N:P ratios of saprophytic and ectomycorrhizal fungi across edaphic gradients on Vancouver Island. Rachael holds a FRQNT scholarship.
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Hannah Lieberman, PhD candidate; co-supervised with Chris von Sperber

Hannah received received her BSc in Biology from Grinnell College in 2016 and completed a fellowship at Gobabeb research station in Namibia, and worked on invasive species at the US Fish and Wildlife Service and as a post-bac internship at Archbold Biological Station. At McGill, Hannah’s research is focused on how flooding impacts carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus sorption and desorption dynamics under different land management practices, soil depths, and flood conditions. Hannah holds a FRQNT scholarship and is a CAPI fellow and NSERC-CREATE Climate Smart Soils fellow.

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Nadia Moukanni, Postdoctoral researcher

Nadia is investigating soil organic matter responses to altered precipitation across a crop diversity gradient. She earned her Ph.D. in Soils and Biogeochemistry from the University of California, Davis, and her MS in Soil and Water Management from the Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine- Morocco. In both experiences, she worked across differences of cultures and disciplines and witnessed the capacity and resilience of the human connection. She highly values collaborative and community-based participatory approaches for conducting research.

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Jessica Nicksy, PhD candidate

Jess completed her M.Sc. at the University of Manitoba in soil science, where she evaluated amendments for organic agriculture that cycle nutrients from urban areas back onto farmland. She is interested in the intersection of sustainable agriculture practices and climate change. Her research investigates how management practices impact soil carbon dynamics and storage. Prior to starting graduate studies, Jess worked as a vegetable market gardener on her small farm, Barefoot Gardens. Jess holds a NSERC-CGS-D scholarship.
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Visveshwar (Vish) Senthilkumaran, BSc; McGill University

Vish has BSc in Environment from McGill University, with a concentration in Ecological Determinants of Health. Vish has a background in agronomy with previous experience working in small organic and regenerative farms and carrying out sustainable soil practices. He manages the DART (Diversity and Rainfall Treatments) project, which looks at how varying precipitation and crop diversity affects soil health and crop yield. 

Lab alumni

William Lapin, NSERC USRA, 2023

Krisztina Mosdossy, PhD 2023

Caitlyn Horsch, MSc 2022

Grace McDougall-Vick, NSERC USRA 2022

Maia Rothman BSc, Honours 2020 

Morgan McMillan, MSc 2020

Bingjie Sun, Postdoc 2019

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