معرفی
Kathryn Docherty is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Western Michigan University. Her research focuses on microbial ecology and restoration ecology, particularly examining how human activities impact microbial community diversity and functionality. She leads projects on prairie restoration, soil carbon storage, and microbial processes in ecosystems. Her work integrates field sampling, sequencing, and rate measurements to guide land management practices. She advises graduate students through her lab group, accessible via her research website.
Research Interests: Her studies emphasize microbial responses to environmental changes, including fire, nitrogen deposition, and climate shifts. She explores strategies to enhance soil health and ecosystem resilience through microbial restoration. Her lab also investigates airborne microbial dynamics and urbanization impacts.
Publications: Recent work highlights microbial responses to prairie restoration, fire effects on soil communities, and collaborative frameworks for ecological observatories. Her articles address topics like soil carbon dynamics under climate change and microbial adaptation to environmental stressors.
Advising & Grants: Docherty mentors students pursuing PhD/Master’s degrees in microbial ecology. Her lab collaborates on projects like the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), focusing on microbial roles in ecosystem processes.
Labs/Teams: The Docherty Microbial Ecology Lab (docherty_microecolab) actively researches microbial ecology and restoration strategies, with findings published in journals like Microbiome and Global Change Biology.
