Kendra Spence Cheruvelil

Kendra Spence Cheruvelil is a Professor with joint appointments in Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University, where she has served as Dean since February 2022. She holds a Ph.D. in Fisheries and Wildlife & Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior from MSU, complemented by an M.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife (MSU) and a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Rochester. Her research integrates freshwater ecology, landscape limnology, and STEM education, with emphases on macrosystem lake ecology, collaborative science ethics, and inclusive pedagogical frameworks.

Research spans two domains: 1) Data-intensive landscape limnology examining continental-scale lake ecosystems through projects like the NSF-funded LAGOS-Lakes initiative ($4.2M), and 2) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning focusing on effective student teamwork, diversity in STEM, and graduate professional development. She co-directs the MSU Data-intensive Landscape Limnology Lab and leads a $600K NSF project on ethical practices in environmental science teams.

Publications demonstrate strong cross-disciplinary trends, with recent works in landscape limnology addressing wildfire impacts on lakes and national-scale aquatic ecosystem analysis, while team science research explores collaborative authorship ethics and interdisciplinary manuscript strategies. STEM education studies investigate undergraduate research team effectiveness.

Honors include:

• William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award (2021)
• ASLO Fellow (2018) for contributions to aquatic sciences
• Big Ten Academic Leadership Fellow (2018)
• Phi Kappa Phi Interdisciplinary Scholarship Award (2015)
• Multiple MSU teaching honors including Teacher-Scholar Award (2012)

Current grants include NSF Macrosystems Biology and Ethical STEM awards totaling $4.8M. She founded the LBC Graduate Fellowship Program in Teaching Scholarship and serves on MSU's Future Academic Scholars Steering Committee.

Leads the Data-intensive Landscape Limnology Lab (bigdatalimno.org), advancing collaborative research on continental-scale aquatic ecosystem patterns and team science methodologies.