A soil sample with text that reads "The Dirt".

Lab Highlights

Desi Thimesch.
Wagner research group working outside.
A tripsacum dactyloide.

Desi Thimesch (Washburn University) joined us this summer to study the effect of abiotic stress on root anatomical variation in Tripsacum dactyloides.

Congratulations Joel Swift

Congratulations to Joel Swift for being awarded a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (PRFB) from the National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research Program (NSF-PGRP)!
The NSF logo, which is NSF on top of a picture of the globe.

Congratulations Kayla Clouse

Congratulations to Kayla Clouse for being awarded a predoctoral fellowship from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA)!

Project Title: Building better bioinoculants: Using experimental evolution to improve the efficacy of a plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria
The USDA logo.

Congratulations to Joel Swift for being selected as a 2023 NMDC Ambassador!

The NMDC (National Microbiome Data Collaborative) logo.
The wagner research group standing together outside.
Kayla standing with his presentation board.
Joel standing with his presentation board.

Kayla and Joel visited collaborators at NCSU (Kleiner and Balint-Kurti labs) and presented at the Microbiome Movement – AgBioTech 2023 conference.

Move-N-Learn tour of the Haworth greenhouses.

Natalie gave an overview of maize and Tripsacum research in the Wagner lab currently underway.
Groups of plants with people walking through them.

Carmen tested out the new LICOR-600 on her children of the corn

She is taking plant chlorophyll and photosynthesis measurements. This experiment is determining if environmental isolates, from the bacterial genus Luteibacter, can confer drought tolerance to plants.
Carmen standing with small plants.
Martel Ellis standing with a presentation board.
Carmen Rodriguez standing with a presentation board.
Anna Garrell standing with a presentation board.

2022 International Phytobiomes Conference (Denver, CO)


Congratulations to Martel Ellis and Carmen Rodriguez (KU undergrads), Anna Garrell (Collaborator; NCSU, Kleiner Lab), and Nichole Ginnan (KU postdoc) who presented their awesome research!

The ESACSEE logo.
Haley, Reb and Ceyda taking a picture together.
A presentation slide with text "Microbial contributions to drought tolerance in a native prairie grass"

2022 ESA Conference (Montréal, Canada)


Congratulations to KU graduate students Haley Burrill (Bever/Schultz Lab), Reb Bryant (Bever/Schultz Lab), and Ceyda Kural (Wagner Lab) who traveled to Canada for ESA 2022 to present their research!

Martel presenting to someone.
Maggie presenting to someone.
Carmen presenting to someone.

2022 REU symposium


Congratulations and amazing work Martel Ellis, Maggie Wilson, Carmen Rodriguez (left to right)!!!

The wagner research group outside together at the BBQ.

2022 Summer BBQ. Pictured (left to right); Felicity Tso, Carmen Rodriguez, Natalie Ford, Tokee Tareq, Amanda Eckhoff, Maggie Wagner, Joel Swift, Nichole Ginnan, Kayla Clouse, Ceyda Kural, Maggie Wilson, Yufan Zhou, and Martel Ellis.

Three people working outside by the rainout shelters.
A closeup of two rainout shelters in a field.
A closeup of 2 rainout shelters in a field.

Rainout shelters are up over Tripsacum dactyloides plots, way to go Ceyda! Thanks to Keana Tang, Katie Eckhoff, Isabel Pen (pictured left to right) and Joel Swift (not pictured)

Felicity presenting their research to three people.
Tokee presenting their research on a stage.

Felicity and Tokee presenting their research at the KU Genomics Symposium (Thank you to Nichole for help organizing)!

Felicity Tso and Carmen Rodriguez digging in a field.
Yufan Zhou digging in a large area of soil.
Carmen Rodriguez and Nichole Ginnan digging in a large area of soil.

2022 Spring Soil collections across both prairie and agricultural collection sites.


Pictured (left to right): Felicity Tso, Carmen Rodriguez, Yufan Zhou, Carmen (again), Nichole Ginnan.

Ceyda Kural looking through tall grass.
Tall grass growth in a prairie.
Small growth in a prairie.

Ceyda Kural searching for Tripsacum dactyloides (a maize relative) in Konza Prairie in summer 2021.

Hannah Reid working in a lab.
Felicity Tso working in a lab.
Root imaging.

2021 Summer planting (Pictured: Left, Hannah Reid ; right, Felicity Tso) and some rad root imaging from Nichole Ginnan!

Maggie Wagner digging in the Konza Prairie.
Prairie with lots of growth and trees in the skyline.
Smoky valley ranch, which has rock formations and lots of prairie grass.

2020 Summer soil collections across Kansas.