Exploring Linkages Between Soil Health and Human Health (2024)
Chapter: Appendix A: Committee Member Biographical Sketches
Appendix A
Committee Member Biographical Sketches
Diana H. Wall (Chair) was the inaugural director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability at Colorado State University. To understand the importance of soil biodiversity, she worked at the physical limits to life in the Antarctic dry valleys where climate change effects are amplified and species diversity is much reduced compared to other soil ecosystems. Her interdisciplinary research uncovered dramatic impacts to invertebrate communities in response to climate change, the key role nematode species play in soil carbon turnover, and how they survive such extreme environments. Wall was the science chair of the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative and had previously served as president of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), the American Institute of Biological Sciences, and the Society of Nematologists (SON). She received the 2017 Eminent Ecologist award from the ESA, the 2016 Honorary Member award from the British Ecological Society, the 2015 Ulysses medal from University College Dublin, the 2012 Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research President’s Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research, and the 2013 Soil Science Society of America Presidential award. Wall Valley, Antarctica, was named in 2004 to recognize her research. She was a fellow of the ESA and the SON and held an honorary doctorate from Utrecht University, The Netherlands. She was an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the 2013 Laureate of the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. Wall received a B.A. in biology and a Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of Kentucky, Lexington.
Katrina Abuabara is a physician and epidemiologist at the University of California (UC), where she holds a joint appointment at UC San Francisco, UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, and the joint program in Computational Precision Health. She has expertise in studying environmental influences on allergic and inflammatory conditions, including the role of soil microbes on human health. Abuabara is a member of the
American Academy of Dermatology, the American Medical Association, the Society for Investigative Dermatology, and the International Eczema Council. She was a Fulbright scholar, was named the 2019 American Academy of Dermatology Young Investigator of the Year, and is a recipient of the National Academy of Medicine’s Healthy Longevity Global Grand Challenge. Abuabara received a B.A. in human biology and an M.A. in sociology from Stanford University, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and an M.S. in clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania. She also completed her residency at the University of Pennsylvania
Joseph Awika is a professor and head of the Food Science & Technology Department at Texas A&M University. Prior to joining Texas A&M in 2008, he worked on faculty at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and Arkansas State University. Awika’s research focuses on examining how the chemical structure and properties of plant-derived bioactive food constituents affect food attributes relevant to human health, with the goal of maximizing the ability of foods to prevent chronic disease. Specific areas of interest include structure-function properties of flavonoids; interactions of polyphenols with carbohydrates and proteins and consequences on polymer function and food quality; factors affecting bioavailability and metabolism of polyphenols from a complex food matrix; and technologies to harness polyphenols to improve sensory, nutritional, and health quality of foods. His international program focuses on technological innovations to address food insecurity globally. Awika is a 2018−2019 Fulbright Faculty Fellow and the recipient of the 2021 Institute of Food Technologists International Food Security Award. Awika received a B.S. in dairy science and technology from Egerton University, Kenya, and a Ph.D. in food science and technology from Texas A&M University.
Samiran Banerjee is an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiological Sciences at North Dakota State University. Previously, he held research positions at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia and Agroscope in Switzerland. He is a soil microbiologist with expertise in -omics and machine-learning approaches and experience in ecology and soil–plant–microbe interactions. His research utilizes a combination of high-throughput sequencing, synthetic biology, and advanced statistical approaches to understand the rules that govern the microbiome assembly and microbe–microbe interactions. He also examines microbiome recruitment into the rhizosphere and roots and how various abiotic and biotic factors alter the structure and functions of plant and soil microbiomes. He serves as a reviewer for several federal and international funding agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation, and Genome Canada. He is an editorial board member of the Journal of Agriculture and Environment and a member of Soil Science Society of America, American Society for Microbiology, and Ecological Society of America. Banerjee received a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in botany from University of Calcuttta, India, an M.Sc. degree in plant and soil sciences from the University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom, and a Ph.D. in soil science from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
Nicholas T. Basta is a professor of soil and environmental chemistry in the School of Environment and Natural Resources and co-director of the Environmental Science Graduate Program at Ohio State University. His research program is focused on environmental chemistry, bioavailability, soil health, and environmental fate and remediation of contaminants in soil, with emphasis on human, agronomic, and ecosystem contaminant pathways. Basta is an active member of several international scientific organizations, including the U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Soil Science, the International Conference for Trace Element Biogeochemistry, the International Society for Trace Element Biogeochemistry, and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Global Contaminated Soil Advisory Group. He has served on several editorial boards including Soil and Environmental Health and Soil Systems. He is a fellow of the Soil Science Society of America and the American Society of Agronomy. Basta received a B.S. in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University and an M.S. in soil science and a Ph.D. in soil chemistry from Iowa State University.
Sarah M. Collier is an assistant professor in the Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health Program and the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health. She previously served as the director of programs at Tilth Alliance, a non-profit food and agricultural organization serving the Pacific Northwest. Collier’s work focuses on the intersection of agriculture and society, applying a systems approach to examining the complexities, interrelationships, co-benefits, and trade-offs that make balancing human and environmental health in the context of food systems both challenging and essential. Her areas of expertise include soil health and management, climate-smart agriculture, food system sustainability and resilience, and plant–microbe interactions. Collier received a B.Sc. in botany from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. in plant breeding from Cornell University and completed postdoctoral training on agricultural system sustainability at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Maria Carlota Dao is an assistant professor of human nutrition in the Department of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems at the University of New Hampshire. Previously, she was a Scientist III at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. As an interdisciplinary scientist, Dao studies the crosstalk between nutrition, the gut microbiome, and human health, focusing on populations at risk for food insecurity, obesity, and chronic disease. She also considers social and environmental barriers to nutrition and opportunities for the promotion of a nutritious food supply. She is a scholar of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Programs to Increase Diversity Among Individuals Engaged in Health-Related Research in Obesity Health Disparities and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Health Disparities Research Institute. She has received research support from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station. Dao received a B.A. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Boston University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in biochemical and
molecular nutrition from Tufts University. She also completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Sorbonne University/National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in France.
Michael A. Grusak is a U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service scientist, the center director of the Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center in Fargo, North Dakota, and an emeritus professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. He currently leads a program consisting of five research units whose scientists conduct research focused on crop plants, insects, food safety, and food quality. The center’s broad mission is to solve problems that will help farmers produce a safe, nutritious, and sustainable food supply. Grusak’s personal research involves understanding ways to enhance the nutritional quality of plant foods for human or animal consumption; he studies how mineral nutrients are acquired from soil and transported throughout plants to edible tissues and works with breeders to translate this fundamental knowledge into strategies for developing nutritionally enhanced food crops. His group also has contributed to clinical investigations to study nutrient bioavailability from plant foods in humans. In 2016, he served as president of the Crop Science Society of America, and he was the 2022–2023 chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. Grusak received a Ph.D. in botany from the University of California, Davis.
Kalmia (Kali) E. Kniel is a professor in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at the University of Delaware (UD). Her research includes understanding mechanisms of environmental persistence by bacteria, protozoa, and viruses in pre-harvest agricultural environments. Kniel serves as the co-chair of the One Health Unique Strength Program and directs the Center for Environmental and Wastewater Epidemiological Research. In 2015, she was awarded the UD Outstanding Teaching and Advising Award and the Elmer Marth Outstanding Educator Award by the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP). In 2020, she was awarded the UD Outstanding Researcher Award and in 2022, she was awarded the IAFP Maurice Weber Laboratorian Award for distinguished laboratory contributions. Kniel is active with Institute of Food Technologists, American Society for Microbiology, and IAFP, where she was elected to the board in 2015 and served as IAFP president in 2020. Kniel received a B.S. in biology, an M.S. in molecular cell biology, and a Ph.D. in food science and technology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Ylva Lekberg is an adjunct research professor in the Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences at the University of Montana. She also works at a privately funded research and conservation organization located in the Bitterroot Valley in Montana. Lekberg is a soil ecologist, and most of her research has focused on how plant–microbial interactions and soil ecosystem processes are impacted by agricultural management practices, change along natural environmental gradients, and are affected by plant invasions. She received the PennState Alumni Dissertation Award for her research on subsistence agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa and a Marie Curie Fellowship to explore mycorrhizal associations in coastal grasslands in Denmark. She is a member
of the Ecological Society of America and the International Mycorrhiza Society. Lekberg received an M.S. in ecology and horticulture from the Swedish Agricultural University and a Ph.D. in ecology from the Pennsylvania State University.
Rebecca J. Nelson is a professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) and the Department of Global Development at Cornell University. She currently serves as SIPS’ associate director for research; from 2000 to 2021, she served as scientific director for The McKnight Foundation’s Collaborative Crop Research Program. Prior to joining the Cornell faculty, Rebecca spent five years at the International Potato Center in Peru (1996 to 2001) and eight years at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines (1988 to 1996). Nelson’s research group works on bionutrient circularity, with a focus on resource recovery from sanitation to agriculture, as well as on plant disease resistance and mycotoxin management in the United States, Africa, and India. At Cornell, Nelson co-leads the CE@CU initiative (circular economy at Cornell University). She is a founding member of the Soil Factory Network, an international collaborative that advances the circular bionutrient economy through art, science, prototyping, and community engagement. Nelson received a B.A. in biology from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Washington.
Kate Scow is a distinguished professor emerita of soil science and microbial ecology in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources at the University of California (UC), Davis. She was director of the UC Kearney Foundation of Soil Science (2001–2006) and a visiting professor at the State University of Maringa, Parana, Brazil (2015–2018). Scow’s research investigates soil microbial biodiversity and processes in agroecosystems, particularly with respect to biogeochemical cycling, carbon sequestration, and disease suppression. Her team’s research into the effects of contaminants on indigenous microbial communities and their roles in bioremediation of polluted ecosystems led to development of cost-effective treatment systems for petroleum-contaminated groundwater. Scow collaborated with eastern African partners, conducting research on soil health, horticulture, and small-scale irrigation systems. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America. Scow received a B.S. in biology from Antioch College and an M.S. and Ph.D. in soil science (agronomy) from Cornell University.
Ann C. Skulas-Ray is an assistant professor in the School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness at the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on identifying and refining nutritional strategies for reducing chronic inflammation and cardiovascular disease risk. She specializes in human subjects intervention studies that investigate effects of omega-3 fatty acids and plant bioactives on lipids/lipoproteins, inflammation, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, brachial and central blood pressure, indices of arterial stiffness, and other cardiovascular disease risk factors. Skulas-Ray received a Ph.D. in nutrition from the Pennsylvania State University.
Lindsey C. Slaughter is an associate professor of soil microbial ecology and biochemistry in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at Texas Tech University. Her lab conducts research that investigates fundamental relationships between plants and soil microbes and how these contribute to ecosystem functioning and response to land management. Her research ultimately seeks to help reverse soil degradation and create resilient, climate-smart agricultural systems through enhanced biological networks and plant–soil interactions, particularly in semi-arid environments. Slaughter currently serves as an associate editor for the Soil Biology and Biochemistry division of the Soil Science Society of America Journal and was recently selected as a 2022 Outstanding Associate Editor for the journal. Slaughter received a B.S. in natural resource management from the University of Tennessee at Martin and an M.S. in plant and soil science and a Ph.D. in soil science from the University of Kentucky. Slaughter currently serves as a technical specialist for soil health in the U.S. High Plains Region with the Soil Health Institute.
Kelly Wrighton is a professor at Colorado State University, where her laboratory uses genomic technologies to uncover how microorganisms control the chemical world in, on, and around us. Her laboratory research is ecosystem agnostic, as every environment offers new perspectives on the factors that control the chemical transformations microorganisms catalyze. Current focus areas include soil microbiomes in agriculture and wetland soils and modulating greenhouse gases from these systems. Broadly the Wrighton laboratory is interested in using microorganisms to sustain human, livestock, and soil health, while controlling carbon and nitrogen loss from these systems. Beyond these areas, Wrighton has a research history that includes harnessing microbial metabolism for biodegradation, biofuels, and in the energy sector. Wrighton was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2020, is a named Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and has earned awards from the International Society of Microbial Ecology and the International Geobiology Society for her team’s scientific contributions. She was recently awarded the Bishop Endowed Chair at Colorado State University. Wrighton received a B.S. and an M.S. in microbiology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of California, Berkeley. She serves on the science advisory boards of the Department of Energy Systems Biology Knowledgebase and Pluton Biosciences and previously served on the User Executive Committee for the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute.
