Seraina Lisa Cappelli

Seraina Lisa Cappelli is a Postdoctoral Associate (mapped to Research Fellow) at the University of Minnesota, College of Biological Sciences. She is affiliated with institutions in Switzerland (University of Bern, ETH Zurich), Finland (University of Helsinki), and Switzerland (University of Zurich). Her research focuses on community ecology, plant pathogens, grassland ecosystems, and sustainable agriculture.

• Education:
  • PhD in Community Ecology (2020), University of Bern
  • MSc in Environmental Sciences: Ecology & Evolution (2015), ETH Zurich
  • BSc in Environmental Sciences (2012), ETH Zurich

Her work explores how plant diversity, nitrogen fertilization, and global change drivers like warming influence ecosystem functioning, disease dynamics, and soil microbial communities. She investigates these processes in both natural grasslands and agricultural systems.

Recent publications highlight her role in studies on:

• Pathogen-mediated effects of plant diversity on productivity
• Role of intraspecific trait variability in ecosystem responses to nitrogen and warming
• Agroecological strategies for disease suppression using undersown species
• Microbial associations in agricultural soils linked to carbon efficiency

She has received funding through the Swiss National Science Foundation and collaborates with researchers across institutions in Europe and the U.S., including Eric Seabloom, Elizabeth Borer, and Anna-Liisa Laine. Her work bridges biodiversity experiments (e.g., PaNDiv, TwinWin) with applied agricultural practices.