Outstanding Faculty Award - Associate Professor, 2011
Serita Frey understands that soil microbes鈥攑rimarily fungi鈥攈ave an image problem. They鈥檙e dirt, after all, and the marquee member of the group is the mushroom, hardly a dolphin or polar bear in terms of charisma. 鈥淭o bubble over about soil organisms is not easy for me,鈥 she says.
But Frey, emerging as an international leader in the field of soil microbial ecology, urges those who would turn up a wrinkled nose at fungi to consider this: Without fungi working their decomposition magic in the Northeast鈥檚 forests, we鈥檇 be buried in leaves.
Frey has devoted her research to ensuring that soil microbes can continue this important work in the face of human-caused stressors like climate change and nitrogen deposition.
She and her collaborators, who include 易胜博官网 Provost and Professor John Aber, have found that nitrogen suppresses soil microbes. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e seeing is a decline in the ability of the soils to cycle nutrients, along with an accumulation of carbon,鈥 says Frey.
鈥淪erita鈥檚 research is vital for environmental management, because it provides insights into the effectiveness of soils as carbon 鈥榮inks鈥 that offset the impact of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide,鈥 says Professor of Environmental Science and Presidential Chair William McDowell. McDowell lauds Frey鈥檚 innovation in the classroom as well; recently she received a USDA grant to develop a 鈥渟tudio soils鈥 class, tapping an active-learning format that鈥檚 become popular in physics but is relatively untested in biological sciences.
鈥淚n the last ten years there鈥檚 been much more recognition of the importance of soil microorganisms. I like to think I鈥檝e played some small role in that,鈥 she says, adding, 鈥淚 feel like I鈥檝e turned a lot of students onto soils who didn鈥檛 realize how cool and important it is.鈥
鈥擝eth Potier
About This Award
The ideal university faculty member is someone whose accomplishments in the areas of teaching, research, and service are prodigious and of the highest quality. He or she is an inspiring, challenging, and effective teacher, whose concern and respect for students is evident both in and out of the classroom. Such a faculty member makes important and extensive contributions to his or her chosen field, and shares those contributions with peers through publication or other appropriate means. Finally, the ideal faculty member willingly and effectively devotes time and energy in useful service to the university, the profession, and the state. The recipients of these awards are those members of the university faculty who, in recent years, have demonstrated these qualities. Each year, two Outstanding Faculty Awards will be given, one each for an assistant and an associate professor. All 易胜博官网 tenure track faculty members at those ranks are eligible.
