BLOG | KBS LTER

Graduate student joins Artist-in-Residence program through KBS Outreach Fellowship

10.14.25

Morgan Clark is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Janzen Lab at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. She studies behavioral ecology, working to understand how individual animals exhibit consistent variation in behavior and how these behavior types may influence their interactions with one another and their environment. As a kid, I fell in love with art in an after-school program called “Bright Futures”. Each day after school, for a specific segment of the year, I would have the opportunity to learn about art across various media from local artists and instructors. I carried this with

MiSTRIPS celebrates five years of success in sustainable agriculture with prairie strips

10.6.25

Since its launch in July 2021, the MiSTRIPS Program at the Kellogg Biological Station Long Term Ecological Research Program - KBS LTER - has established over 50 acres of prairie in agricultural lands across Michigan that have helped to improve water quality, increase wildlife diversity, and build soil health. Research at the KBS LTER aims to inform farmers’ ability to increase food and energy production while maintaining ecosystem services and farm profitability. The main experiment at the LTER has been running for over 30 years and reflects conventional and aspirational practices at the t

Graduate research from the KBS LTER reveals how nematodes contribute to soil food web stability in droughts

9.11.25

Using the Rainfall Exclusion Experiment (REX) within the KBS LTER, researchers found that nematode communities are more stable in early successional landscapes than agricultural ones during drought. This study highlights the importance of plant diversity for resilient soil ecosystems under environmental change. As farmers adopt new strategies to cope with increasingly extreme weather events, such as heatwaves and droughts, understanding the mechanisms behind resiliency in agricultural systems is critical. While it’s well-established that drought harms crop production, less is known about h

Sprunger receives TAP Award, recognized as changemaker in global food security

9.3.25

W.K. Kellogg Biological Station faculty member and part of the KBS LTER Executive Committee, Christine Sprunger, is one of 39 visionaries named to the 2025 Top Agri-food Pioneers, or TAP, list by the World Food Prize Foundation. Now in its second year, the TAP list honors individuals driving bold and innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges in global food security. This year’s honorees span 27 countries and one territory and range in age from 20 to 79, representing a powerful cross-section of experience, geography and expertise. “The 2025 TAP list showcases th

Nature-based climate solutions are a powerful tool to reverse the warming caused by deforestation

8.25.25

Deforestation has intensified global warming, but a new study out in Nature Communications Earth and Environment finds restoring forests and adopting sustainable land-use practices can reverse the damage while benefiting both people and nature. A new study published in Nature Communications Earth and Environment reveals that when land managers implement nature-based climate solutions, they can significantly counteract the climate-warming effects of past deforestation. The research, led by ecologists and climate scientists at Michigan State University’s Department of Plant, Soil, and Micr

Nurturing nature in Detroit: Students, gardens, and the power of outdoor learning

8.22.25

Introducing Emma Howland-Bolton (Ms. H-B), a 4th grade teacher from Detroit Public Schools and the K-12 Partnership’s Teacher in Residence (TIR) for summer 2025! True to her nature, Emma’s standard email signature is ‘stay dangerous’, she accepted the challenge with zeal and filled every moment with meaningful experiences! Read on to learn more about Emma’s TIR experience, which took place on June 17-26, 2025. During her residency, Emma was mentored by Kara Haas, the Kellogg Biological Station Long Term Ecological Research Program (KBS LTER) K-12 Partnership Coordinator. Emma and K

Prairie strips that pay – upcoming MiSTRIPS Field Day

7.9.25

As a follow up to the 2025 Cultivating Resilience Winter Conference, Ottawa Conservation District has partnered up with the Michigan State University Kellogg Biological Station and Shady Side Farm to bring you a field day focused on incorporating prairie strips into your farmland operations and crop fields. Strategically placed native prairie strips in crop fields can increase local pollinator biodiversity, improve local water quality and soil health, and can increase your farm profitability! Attendees will learn from MSU staff and MiSTRIPS farmer, Mike Bronkema from Shady Side Farm, about

Listening first: How KBS is expanding the reach of conservation research

6.30.25

The Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) LTER program has pioneered research in sustainable farming practices and conservation in agricultural landscapes for decades, yet many of these practices are underused on farms. We need a deeper understanding about the barriers faced by farmers when adopting conservation practices, and the stronger connections between existing research and farmer needs. As part of the APEAL Public Engagement with Science (PES) Working Group, Dr. Liz Schultheis, the KBS LTER Outreach & Education Coordinator, along with partners at KBS and MSU

New research leverages long-term treatments in novel ways to study plant biotic interactions

6.6.25

Researchers in Kadeem Gilbert’s lab are using experimental treatments within the KBS LTER to look at how leaves regulate their external pH conditions, which may impact how they interact with insect herbivores and microbes. For almost 40 years, researchers at the KBS LTER have studied interactions among plants, microbes, insects, management, and the environment to learn how agriculture can provide both high yields and environmental outcomes that benefit society. One might assume that after all that time, every hypothesis has already been tested! Yet, we continually find there are fresh p

Announcing the 2025 KBS LTER Artists-in-Residence!

6.4.25

Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters will be well represented this year among the Farmscapes to Forests: Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research Artist-in-Residence Program. The 2025 Artists-in-Residence at MSU’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) will include an assistant professor, post-doctoral research associate, and recent graduate, all from the College of Arts & Letters. They will be joined by an artist from New York to complete the 2025 artist-in-residence cohort at KBS, which is located in Hickory Corners, Michigan. Launched in 2022 in a