Lab News

December 2023

Brooke and Zac attended and presented at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco, CA.

After lots of work by many people and the completion of trainings, we’re happy to report that the lab’s new Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (IRMS) is up and running! We’re excited for the new capacity to measure stable isotopes of C and N in solid and aqueous samples to empower more stable isotope informed research.

October 2023

Congratulations to Hannah Anderson, who successfully defended her MS thesis! Hannah will continuing on in the lab to pursue her PhD and we’re very happy she’ll be with us for a few more years.

Tanner, Hannah, Erica, Gwen, and Zac attended and presented at the Soil Science Society of America conference in St. Louis, MO.

September 2023

We’re all excited for a new academic year! This fall our lab welcomes two new graduate students in the Soil Science program, Soni Ghimire (PhD student) and Clare Tallamy (MS student) and one new graduate student in the Environment and Resources program, Erica Shoenberger (PhD student) Welcome!

August 2023

Brooke, Grace and Zac attended and presented at the Ecological Society of America conference in Portland, OR.

May 2023

Congratulations to Sal Grover, who successfully defended his MS thesis! Sal will be moving on to a data analyst position for the California Air Resources Board. We’re sad to see him go, but am super happy for him that he’ll be returning to his home state.

March 2023

Hannah attended and presented at the Marbleseed Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse, WI.

November 2022

Brooke, Sal, Tanner, and Zac attended and presented at the Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. Crab cakes and science – a great week in Charm City.

Congrats to Jenni Kane, who successfully defended her PhD on November 2nd. Jenni is our lab’s second PhD graduate from WVU and is staying at WVU for her postdoc. Go Jenni!

Another congrats to our lab’s first PhD graduate, Greg Martin, who accepted a postdoctoral position at the Pacific Northwest National Lab. Go Greg!

Zac was recently interviewed on The Badger Variety Hour, recorded live on 91.7 WSUM. Check out the recording here.

October 2022

Welcome to Annalise Keaton, who we’re excited to have join the lab as our new Research Specialist. Annalise will work closely with the lab team to manage our ongoing research and outreach efforts.

September 2022

We’re happy to report two recent successes with grant proposals!

First, the lab will lead a new project that had been funded by the NSF Signals in the Soil Program. The project is titled “Leveraging spectroscopy and in situ soil sensing for prediction of keystone soil microbiome functions” and is a collaboration between the lab and Co-PIs Joey Andrews, Alfred Hartemink, Jingyi Huang, and Erica Majumder.

Second, funded by the USDA Equipment Grant Program, the lab will be the new owners of an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (IRMS). An IRMS is an impressive instrument that can measure differences in stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen from solid and aqueous samples. It will enable new lines of research about how nutrients move into, around, and out of ecosystems – from the atmosphere to the soil, to plants, to consumers – and in the environment.

August 2022

We had an exciting summer in the lab! From field trips to reclaimed mine sites in WV, the Michigan and Wisconsin Northwoods, and the Arlington and West Madison Research Station, there was lots of traveling around and teamwork managing sample processing.

We also welcomed two new members to the lab. First, our newest PhD student Gwen Pipes joined the lab in June after her successful completion of her MS program with Dr. Joseph Yavitt at Cornell University. Second, our new Research Specialist Annalise Keaton joined in the lab in August after working at the UW-Madison COVID-19 diagnostic lab as a technician. Welcome Gwen and Annalise!

May 2022

Happy Summer! To kick off the summer season, our lab welcomed our newest PhD student, Tanner Judd. Tanner joins us after the successful completion of his MS program with Dr. Andrea Jilling at Oklahoma State University. Welcome Tanner!

April 2022

Congrats to the newly minted Dr. Greg Martin! Greg is the lab’s first PhD student from WVU and successfully defended his PhD this month.

Some more good news from Greg, whose second dissertation chapter “A legacy of fire emerges from multiple disturbances to most shape microbial and nitrogen dynamics in a deciduous forest” was just published in Soil Biology and Biochemistry. Check it out here. Congrats Greg!

January 2022

Happy New Year! We welcomed the new year and also a new graduate student. Hannah Anderson joined our lab as an MS student in the Soil Science program. Previously, Hannah completed her B.S. from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities where she competed on the soil judging team. Welcome Hannah!

September 2021

The lab keeps growing! This month we welcomed Zoë Goodrow, our lab’s new Research Specialist. Zoë earned her MS in the Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. She was previously a Research Specialist at the Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center as well as a Science and Policy Research Fellow at the Environmental Law and Policy Center, UW-Madison.

August 2021

The lab is happy to welcome two new graduate students! Brooke Propson is a new PhD student (Soil Science) and is joining us from her previous position at the University of Michigan Biological Station. Sal Grover is a new MS student (Agroecology) and is joining us from his previous position at the University of California-Davis.

August 2021

Congrats to Greg and Jenni who both presented talks at the Ecological Society of America meeting, which was held virtually due to COVID-19. Greg’s talk was titled: “Legacy effects of fire continue to shape the soil microbiome in an eastern deciduous forest” and Jenni’s talk was titled: “Integrating the ecology of the soil microbiome into our understanding of bioproduct agroecosystem productivity and sustainability”.

July 2021

Zac was appointed to the O.N. Allen Professorship in Soil Microbiology. The five-year professorship will be used to support exciting research and community building in soil microbiology at UW-Madison.

January 2021

Zac started teaching Forum on the Environment (SOILSCI/ENVIRSCI 101) in a virtual format. Good luck to all in what will surely be another unique semester.

January 2021

Happy 2021! This semester the lab welcomes Lucas Chamberlain, who is a new PhD student in the Environment and Resources program (co-advised with Dr. Matt Ruark). Lucas completed his MS in 2020 at Northwestern University and will pursue a project to investigate mechanisms of soil organic matter production and persistence across midwestern cropping systems.

December 2020

Congrats to Greg! His manuscript Stream sediment bacterial communities exhibit temporally-consistent and distinct thresholds to land use change in a mixed-use watershed was accepted for publication in FEMS Microbiology Ecology. Check out the advance article here.

November 2020

Congrats to Jenni! Her manuscript Soil microbial succession following surface mining is governed primarily by deterministic factors was published in the November issue of FEMS Microbiology Ecology. Check it out here.

September 2020

Happy Fall! Zac started teaching Soil Biology (SOILSCI 323) with Drs. Matt Ruark and Ann Macguidwin in a virtual format. Good luck to all in what will surely be a special semester.

July 2020

More good news! The lab was awarded a grant through the National Science Foundation’s Understanding the Rules of Life: Microbiome Theory and Mechanisms program. Stay tuned for position announcements.

July 2020

We just got the good news that the lab was awarded a grant through the USDA Sustainable Agricultural Systems program to start September, 2020! We’re currently recruiting a PhD student to work on this project: Freedman Lab PhD Advert_SAS

June 2020

The Freedman Lab is recruiting PhD students – check out this advertisement and email Zac for more information.

June 2020

The lab is officially in its new home at UW-Madison!