ANDREA BASCHE
Associate Professor
Andrea is a cropping systems agronomist with teaching and research responsibilities in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. She received her Ph.D. in 2015 from Iowa State University in agronomy and sustainable agriculture.
CV (January 2023) (PDF file)
Email: abasche2@unl.edu
Brooke McWherter
Research Assistant Professor
Brooke is a natural resource social scientist in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. As a natural resource social scientist, she aims to leverage social science theories with mixed methods to support and build individual and organizational capacities in decision-making around natural resource and agricultural management. McWherter has worked with producers and organizational partners worldwide including South America, Canada and the USA. Her research is currently interested in (1) how individuals and organizations perceive the future of agricultural systems and their role in making those futures, (2) how systems thinking shapes individual and organizational adaptation and planning in response to socio-ecological change, and (3) what social impacts may result from natural resource and agricultural decisions, policies and programs. In addition to her research, McWherter has worked with numerous organizations and governmental agencies, leveraging systems thinking theory to conduct workshops aimed at enhancing program design and fostering engagement. Through the development of logic models, social impact frameworks, and success factors, she extends the application of her research to practical solutions within the natural resource and agricultural sectors.
Before starting at UNL, McWherter was a Mitacs post-doctoral fellow at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. She obtained her Ph.D. in Natural Resource Social Sciences from Purdue University, M.S. in Conservation Ecology and Environmental Justice at the University of Michigan, and her B.S. in Wildlife Biology in her home state of Missouri at Missouri State University.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooke-mcwherter/
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=K2kzGEAAAAAJ&hl=en
Email: brookemcw.socsci@gmail.com
Tauana Ferreira de Almeida
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Tauana is an Agronomist and holds a master’s degree in soil science from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil. Now completed her Ph.D. in Summer 2024. She lead the team’s participation in the Precision Sustainable Agriculture Coordinated Agriculture Project. She is researching the efficiency of cover crops under different management systems to improve soil health, control weeds and pests and increase cash crop yield.
Email: tauana.almeida.agro@gmail.com or tferreiradealmeida2@huskers.unl.edu
Somdatta Achar
Ph. D. Graduate Student
Somdatta is an Indian girl, who has embarked on a transformative journey in the U.S. to pursue her aspirations in higher education. She joined the Resilient Cropping Systems Lab as a PhD student in the Department of Agronomy & Horticulture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Summer 2024. Under the mentorship of Dr. Andrea Basche, she is pursuing her research in collaboration with Corteva Agriscience on ‘Feedstocks for Advanced Biofuels from Perennial Ground Cover Systems’ (FAB-PGCs). Her research focuses on important climate-resilient objectives, including the development of best management practices for nitrogen fertilizer in PGC systems, measurement of soil carbon and nitrous oxide emissions, calculation of the carbon intensity of optimized management systems, and the evaluation of corn residue-based energy supply potential through the analysis of stover yields in PGC systems. Somdatta is dedicated to make significant contributions to her team, both professionally and personally.
Previously, Somdatta gained valuable experience as a Visiting Research Scholar at the Panhandle Research, Extension & Education Center at Scottsbluff, Nebraska (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) during 2023-2024. At that time, she led a genetic diversity project entitled ‘Evaluation of Pea Germplasm for Morpho-Agronomic Traits in the Western Nebraska Environment.’ She completed her M.Sc. in Agronomy from Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, a State Agricultural University in India, in 2022, with her thesis on ‘Effect of Sowing Dates on Phenology, Growth, and Yield of Field Pea Varieties in the Lower Gangetic Plains of West Bengal, India.’ She obtained a four-year B.Sc. (Ag.) Honours degree from Palli Siksha Bhavana, Visva Bharati, a Central University in India, graduating in 2020. These foundational experiences highlight her commitment to advancing in her field and achieving her future professional goals.
Email: sachar2@huskers.unl.edu
Grace Emperatriz Pacheco Jiron
M.S. Graduate Student
Grace is originally from Honduras-Nicaragua and has a B.Sc. degree in Agricultural Sciences and Production form Zamorano University, and currently pursuing a M.S. degree in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Presently she is working with the Cover Crop Initiative, a collaborative project between UNL and NRCS to advance knowledge and utilization of cover crops in Nebraska. Grace is researching the short-term effect that different species and varieties of cover crops have in soil carbon and nitrogen pools. As well as, evaluating and comparing above ground cover crop measurements with UAV imagery.
Email: gpacheco2@huskers.unl.edu or graceemperatriz@gmail.com
Bridget McKinley
M.S. Graduate Student
Bridget is originally from the Jersey Shore and holds her B.S. in Sustainability with a concentration in Agroecology from Stockton University. Bridget is pursuing her M.S. in Agronomy, with research focusing on the productivity of cover crops as part of multi-cite variety trials. Her research objectives are to understand the above and below-ground performance of cover crops planted as monocultures or mixtures and understand the potential of increasing both the resilience and efficiency of various agroecosystems.
Madeline Johnston
M.S. Graduate Student
Madeline is originally from the East Coast and has earned a B.S. in Molecular Biology from Messiah University. She is currently pursuing her M.S. in Agronomy at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln where she is researching the agronomic management and regenerative capacity of Kernza®, the first commercially-available perennial forage and small grains crop in the United States.
By evaluating Kernza varieties in conjunction with select management practices, she hopes to increase awareness and understanding of the crop’s long-term production needs for increased grain and forage yields. Additionally, she is researching Kernza’s capacity to provide much-needed ecosystem benefits, including the crop’s effects on soil health and water quality in response to various fertilizer regimens.
Both field trials are part of a multi-state project in collaboration with KernzaCAP® and The Land Institute who seek to address the need for sustainable food production through the adoption of regenerative agriculture.
Profiles: LinkedIn | ResearchGate | GoogleScholar
Email: mjohnston8@huskers.unl.edu or madeline.johnston.agro@gmail.com
RESEARCH GROUP ALUMNI
Gabriel Augusto Engel
Research Scholar
Gabriel Augusto Engel was a research scholar at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 2024 supporting the group's work on the Cover Crop Initiative Project as well as research on Kernza®. Gabriel is currently pursuing his undergraduate degree in agronomy at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. He is very interested in pursuing a master's degree in the U.S. with a focus on cropping systems.
Matheus Ferrari Menegat
Research Scholar
Matheus Ferrari Menegat was a research scholar at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln during the spring and summer of 2023. He supported the group’s work on the Precision Sustainable Agriculture (PSA) project on the cover crop management and cropping systems. He is pursuing his undergrad in Agronomy at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in South of Brazil.
Roberta Bianchin Rebesquini
M.S. Graduate Student
Roberta is originally from south Brazil and graduated from Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) – Brazil, with her B.S. in Agronomy. She completed her M.S. degree at Nebraska in Fall 2023. Her researching to evaluated the management and production of Kernza®️, a perennial grain crop developed by The Land Institute. Roberta is now a Cropping Systems Research Coordinator with the Practical Farmers of Iowa in Ames, Iowa.
FERNANDA KRUPEK
Ph.D. Graduate Student
Fernanda Krupek received her Ph.D. in Spring 2023. Her research was a part of the Soil Health Initiative, a state-wide project with on-farm experiments. Her work is published in Geoderma and Agricultural and Environmental Letters. She is now an assistant professor at The Ohio State University’s Department of Crop and Horticultural Sciences.
Fernanda was awarded first place for a video summary she put together about her research at the 2020 SciComm Conference in the Graduate Student Lightning Video category.
SALVADOR RAMIREZ II
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Salvador Ramirez II completed his Ph.D. with Rhae Drijber in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture in December of 2020 and worked as postdoctoral fellow on our team until the Spring of 2022. He supported numerous research projects and led teaching efforts in Spring 2022 for Resource Efficient Crop Management. He is now working for the USDA ARS unit in Lincoln, NE.
Elizabeth Oys
M.S. Graduate Student
Originally from south central Minnesota, Elizabeth graduated from Iowa State University with her BS in Agronomy and Global Resource Systems and completed her MS in Agronomy on our team in the Spring 2022 semester. She is now working for Gowan Company. Her research on the effects of cover crop systems on weed populations through the Soil Health Initiative project can be found in the UNL Digital Repository. Elizabeth is now a Technical Service Representative with Gowan USA.
NILOVNA CHATTERJEE
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Nilovna received her Ph.D. at the University of Florida in 2018 and led our cover crop modeling efforts as a post doctoral research fellow from 2018-2020, published in Agronomy Journal. She is now working as a scientist with CiBO Technologies. Learn more about Nilovna and her work at https://nilovna.weebly.com.
Brittany Kirsch
M.S. Graduate Student
Brittany is originally from a small town in north-central Iowa. She graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S. in Agronomy. She completed her M.S. degree in Summer 2020 and is now a soil conservationist with the USDA-NRCS in Sargent Bluff, Iowa. Her thesis, titled “Impact of agricultural land use on stream nitrate, phosphorus and sediment concentrations at the watershed and field scale” can be found in the UNL Digital Repository.
Dania Vieira Branco Ozorio
Research Scholar
Dania Vieira Branco Ozorio was a research scholar at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln during the spring/summer of 2020. She supported the group’s work on the Soil Health Initiative and the development of a decision-support tool for cover crops. Her work culminated in several CropWatch articles. She received her B.S. in Agronomy in 2016 and her M.S. degree in Plant Health with focus on Entomology and Vegetal Virology in 2018, both from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. She is looking forward to continuing her studies in the USA.
Gustavo Pesini
International Visiting Scholar
Gustavo Pesini was a research scholar at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln during the spring and summer of 2022. He supported the group’s work on the Precision Sustainable Agriculture (PSA) project. His work is focused on the cover crop management and cropping systems. He is pursuing his undergrad in Agronomy at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in South of Brazil. He is looking forward to graduate school in Agronomy and starting his masters in the U.S. in 2024.
Rose Alcine Lovely Zamord
Visiting Research Scholar
Rose Alcine Lovely is originally from Haiti. She received her B.Sc. degree in Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resource Management from EARTH University in Costa Rica in 2022. She was a research scholar at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln during the spring/summer of 2024, supporting the group’s work on the cover crop initiative to advance knowledge and utilization of cover crop in Nebraska. She also helps in writing reports relating to summer cover crops. She is looking forward to pursuing her studies in the USA. She is now pursuing her M.S. degree in the Agronomy and Horticulture Department.
