People

Dr. Hannah Naughton (Principal Investigator)

Dr. Naughton’s expertise is in soil biogeochemistry with a focus on microbial carbon processing. She is interested in how the physical heterogeneity of soil environments affects local chemistry and ability of microorganisms to decompose and respire organic carbon, thus linking the terrestrial and atmospheric carbon cycles. Her group’s overarching goal is to improve predictions of microbial nutrient cycling from the small spatial and temporal scales relevant for soil microbial and chemical interactions to landscape scales using field, laboratory, and statistical techniques.

Graduate Students

Marissa Hanley, Plant and Soil Sciences PhD Candidate

Marissa Hanley is a graduate student at UMass Amherst’s Stockbridge School of Agriculture researching the effects of different carbon inputs on the formation and distribution of anoxic microsites in otherwise oxic soils. She completed her undergraduate degree in Environmental Science at UMass Amherst where she researched heavy metal toxicity in soils, mushrooms, and respective substrates throughout New England’s Connecticut River Valley.

Charles Williamson, Plant and Soil Sciences PhD Student

Hi, I’m Charles Williamson. I’m originally from Darlington, SC. There, my family and I maintain a strong connection to natural resource management by way of agriculture and conservation forestry. I graduated from Warren-Wilson College, near Asheville, NC, where I studied ecological forestry with Dr. Alisa Hove in 2014. I then worked on various types of farms, mostly livestock farms, such as sheep farms in New Zealand, a “poly-stock” farm called Hickory Nut Gap in Western NC, and vegetable farms in VT. I graduated with an M.S. from Clemson University in 2022, where I researched soil health in organic vegetable production with Dr. Rongzhong Ye at the Pee Dee Research Station. I’m excited to continue soil science research with cover cropping at the Naughton Lab, UMass Amherst.

Halina Saydam, Plant and Soil Sciences M.S. Student

Halina is a master’s student investigating the role of anoxic microsites in nutrient cycling within soils. Her research focuses on understanding how these microsites influence soil chemistry and microbial dynamics. She received her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry & Environmental Science at Washington College, Maryland. Prior research includes grassland prescribed burns and their impact on soil chemistry, PFAS monitoring in surface waters, and comparing carbon fluxes (fDOM and POC) in tidal marshes and oyster aquaculture systems.

Postdoctoral Scholars & Staff

Neda Nikpour Rashidabad, Collaborator from the Hashemi lab. Dr. Rashidabad is an expert in plant physiology and crop production. She comes to us courtesy of the Hashemi agronomy lab, in which she is testing how to intercrop to reduce nitrogen loss from soy crops via denitrification. Dr. Rashidabad is developing her soil analysis skills and is a key collaborator on our cover crop project.

Undergraduate Students

Hannah Markelz, 2024 – present. Hannah is a second-year undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is studying Environmental Science with a minor in Sustainable Community Development and is a part of the Integrated Concentration in STEM (iCons) program. Hannah’s primary interests are developing climate action plans for cities and urban agriculture as a climate solution.

Ella Moskovitz, 2024 – present, Stockbridge School practicum

Olivia Park, 2024 – present, Plant and Soil Science Independent Study

Adam Abdur-Rahman, summer 2024, Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology

Angelo Agarano, summer 2025, Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology

Julia Marquis, summer 2024, Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology

Naturi Scott, summer 2024, Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology

Dante Eschleman, 2023 – 2024, Environmental Science practicum

Luke McNeil, 2023, Stockbridge School practicum