Meet the Team

Alix Contosta

Faculty Profile

Jessica Ernakovich

Jessica Ernakovich is a microbial ecologist and biogeochemist whose research aims to understand how disturbance from environmental change—ranging from agricultural management to permafrost thaw—affects the function of ecosystems, with a specific emphasis on greenhouse gas production, soil organic matter formation, and nitrogen mineralization. Her research team does collaborative science investigating how microbial communities interact with and function in their physical, chemical, and biological environment using a mixture of science tools—including high-throughput sequencing of nucleic acids and tracing of chemical transformations with stable isotopes.

Faculty Profile

Serita Frey 

Serita Frey is a microbial ecologist with over 30 years of experience studying microbes in the environment. Her research examines how environmental change is altering the structure and function of forest ecosystems, with an emphasis on soil microbial communities and nutrient cycling processes. She works at the interface between microbial ecology, ecosystem science, and global change biology, combining microbiological and -omics tools with stable isotope analysis and a variety of soil physical and chemical approaches to examine structure-function linkages. Her research team maintains five long-term global change experiments at the Harvard Forest Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) site.

Faculty Profile

Stuart Grandy 

Stuart Grandy is a Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry whose research program examines the role of soil organisms in regulating soil carbon cycling, trace gas emissions, nitrogen cycling and productivity. His team integrates microbial-explicit models, emerging biogeochemical concepts and data. They are currently focused on soil health, soil organic matter dynamics, and rethinking from where and how plants and microbes mobilize and obtain bioavailable nitrogen.

Faculty Profile

Amanda Daly

Grandy Lab Manager and Ph.D. Candidate in Earth and Environmental Science 

Amanda Daly’s fascination with soils sprang from a love for complex ecosystems, the mysteries of the invisible, and the booming local food movement in her home state of Vermont. Trained as an ecologist and molecular biologist, she seeks to hone our understanding of soil organic nitrogen cycling to enable land-management strategies that maintain ecosystem health and productivity. She is also passionate about being of service to the broader community whether by supporting farmers, writing in accessible ways about science, or supporting future scientists from underrepresented groups who wish to pursue careers in STEM.

Mel Knorr 

Mel Knorr manages Serita Frey’s soil microbiology lab, works closely with graduate students on their various projects, and maintains several long-term experiments at the Harvard Forest LTER. Her specific interests involve exploring relationships among C and N cycling and microbial community composition as impacted by chronic warming and N deposition. 

Maggie Davis 

Maggie manages the Ernakovich laboratory at UNH. Her research interests include using genomics and stable isotope labelling to analyze soil microbial communities’ interactions with soil nutrients to observe how microbes and soils respond to environmental stresses. She earned a bachelor’s degree in art history from Penn State University and previously worked in the Penn State Radiocarbon Lab, where she prepared archaeological and environmental samples for radiocarbon dating, stable isotope analysis, and occasionally FTIR and XRF analysis. Outside of work, she likes to cross country ski, kayak, and cook adventurously. 

Hannah Holland-Moritz

Postdoctoral Researcher

Hannah Holland-Moritz is a post-doctoral researcher. She uses molecular and computational tools to study plant-associated and soil microbial communities. Her research focuses on the environmental conditions which influence community assembly and the molecular mechanisms that underpin community functional traits. She is particularly interested in using microbial functional traits in conjunction with community assembly processes to develop more accurate predictive models of carbon release. In addition to her research interests, Dr. Holland-Moritz is passionate about science communication, diversity and inclusion in STEM, and lowering barriers to acquisition of computational skills among early career scientists.

Nathan Alexander

Master's Student

Nathan began as a lab technician in the Ernakovich lab, assisting other lab members in their research, including preparation and processing of soil samples, conducting dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen extractions, and performing DNA extractions on various tundra plant species. He is also assisting in the construction of the lab's isotope labelling chamber. Nathan has now started a Master’s project where he will continue this work within his research projects. 

Gretchen Bahmueller

Master's Student

Gretchen Bahmueller is a master’s student in Serita Frey’s lab studying the impact of long-term soil warming on soil microbial resilience to future stress events. With a background in sustainable agriculture and food systems, Gretchen is interested in soil microorganisms and their importance in sustainable agricultural systems. In their free time, they enjoy running, drawing, and reading.

Emma Bergh

Ph.D. Student 

Emma Bergh is a PhD student in Stuart Grandy’s lab, studying mineral-associated organic matter and nitrogen cycling in agroecosystems. In her free time, Emma enjoys playing board games, hiking, and hanging out with her two pet bunnies. 

Nathan Blais

Ph.D. Student 

Nate Blais recently completed his master’s degree here in the Ernakovich lab at UNH researching permafrost soil structure and its influence on microbial communities. Now, he is pursuing his PhD researching soil biogeochemistry in agricultural systems. Besides his interest in science, he loves all things sports and is currently focusing on racing mountain bikes for the UNH team. 

Samuel Bratsman

Ph.D. Student 

Samuel Bratsman is a PhD student in the Ernakovich Lab, studying arctic permafrost microbial communities. Sam's background is in human-induced changes to aquatic biogeochemistry and harmful algal blooms, which he studied during his Master's at Brigham Young University. Outside of research, he enjoys road biking and birding. 

Andre Chiang

Master's Student

Andre is a currently in the Frey lab under the Ecosystem Science tract. His research is focused on trying to understand the functionality of tuberculate ectomycorrhiza of oak trees in the context of artificial soil warming. Outside of the university he spends his time indulging in all forms of climbing, skiing and wood carving.

Jannatul Ferdous

Ph.D. Student

Bren Myers

Ph.D. Student

Bren Myers is a PhD student (Natural Resources and Environmental Studies) in the Frey Lab. He earned his bachelor's degree in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2022. Bren's research is focused on developing tools to predict fungal contributions to soil organic matter (SOM) based on phenotypic and genotypic profiles. Outside of the lab he enjoys board games and birdwatching.

Manjot Kaur Rekhi

Ph.D. Student 

Manjot Kaur Rekhi is a PhD student (Earth & Environmental Science) in the Grandy lab. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (Hons.) from Punjab Agricultural University, India in 2019. She completed her master's degree in Agronomy (Soil and Environmental Chemistry) from Kansas State University researching on the potential of soil-based microbial fuel cells to sense nutrient dynamics. Her current focus is on agricultural nitrogen use efficiency. She is particularly interested in tracing isotopically-labelled nitrogen from inorganic fertilizers into agricultural pools, including soil organic matter, soil microbes and, ultimately, crop biomass. Her bigger goal is to promote sustainable agriculture and help solve environmental issues related to nutrient cycling. Apart from this, Manjot has a keen interest in public speaking. 

Mariah Reitzel

Lab Technician

Mariah is a Lab Technician in the Frey lab. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from UNH in Fall 2022. Currently, she is assisting in research projects including ergosterol extraction for estimating fungal biomass and measuring soil microbial function through respiration measurements in the field. She is also learning about how soil warming affects the environment and ecosystem in New England.

Sean Schaefer

Ph.D. Candidate 

Sean Schaefer is a Ph.D. candidate in Natural Resources where he studies microbial ecology. His primary interests include arctic ecology, biogeochemistry, plant-microbe interactions, and mycorrhizal ecology. His research examines how mycorrhizosphere dynamics can influence soil organic carbon decomposition and global carbon cycling. 

Else Schlerman

Ph.D. Student 

Else Schlerman is a first year Ph.D. student working with Stuart Grandy and Jessica Ernakovich.  Her research focuses on refining global climate models to better predict changing carbon dynamics in the Arctic permafrost.  Prior to graduate school, she led wilderness trail crews, apprenticed on an organic vegetable farm, and taught physics to high school and undergraduate students. 

Cristhian dos Santos Teixeira

Postdoctoral Researcher

Cristhian hails from Brazil and has a background in Agronomy, holding a degree in Agronomy, a Master's degree in Ecology, and a Doctorate in Agronomy. Cristhian started his professional career as a field agronomist and has gradually developed skills and competencies in both practical and theoretical aspects of agronomy and ecology. Currently, as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of New Hampshire, his particular research interest is in carbon dynamics and microbial ecology within threatened natural ecosystems and agroecosystems.

Shannon Van Hise

Research Assistant

Shannon is a Research Assistant in the Contosta Lab, where she is involved in a variety of research projects. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Forestry at UNH in Spring 2024. Her current work allows her to explore how soil carbon stocks change over time in relation to disturbance and succession in forests, as well as examining soil freeze and thaw cycles during the winter in New England. Additionally, she is learning how agroforestry systems are being integrated to enhance carbon sequestration, climate resilience, and food production.