Faculty

Scott Bales, M.S.

Dry Bean Systems Specialist
balessco@msu.edu
989-262-8550
Bruno Basso, Ph.D.

John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor
basso@msu.edu
517-353-9009
Chris Blackwood, Ph.D.

Professor - Ecology of plant and microbial communities; root traits and mycorrhizae; soil biogeochemistry.
blackw79@msu.edu
517-432-0669
Gregory Bonito, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Mycology, plant-fungal interactions, truffle ecology, evolution of bacterial endosymbiosis in fungi
bonito@msu.edu
517-884-6958
Erin Bosch-Hannah, M.S.

Senior Academic Specialist - Agricultural Industries Coordinator - Education, Agricultural Technologies, Professional Internships
boscher2@msu.edu
517-353-0160
Erin Burns, Ph.D.

Assistant Prof. - Integrated weed management w/ emphasis on practices to mitigate the development and spread of herbicide-resistant weeds.
burnser5@msu.edu
517-353-0223
Jan Byrne, Ph.D.

Director of Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic and Plant Pathology Diagnostician
byrnejm@msu.edu
517-355-3504
Kim Cassida, Ph.D.

Associate Professor/Extension Specialist - Forages & Cover Crops
cassida@msu.edu
517-353-0278
Martin Chilvers, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Field Crop Pathology
chilvers@msu.edu
517-353-9967
Karen Cichy, Ph.D.

USDA-ARS Adjunct Associate Prof. - Dry bean breeding /genetics: seed quality; human nutritional, processing quality and consumer acceptance.
karen.cichy@usda.gov
517-353-0210
Julie Cotton, M.S.

Program Coordinator, Instructor, and Advisor for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems and Ecological Food and Farming Systems programs
cottonj@msu.edu
517-353-0156
Jon Dahl, M.S.

Senior Specialist-Manager: Soil and Plant Nutrient Laboratory
dahl@msu.edu
517-355-0218
Pratima Devkota, Ph.D.

Academic Specialist
devkotap@msu.edu
517-482-3331
David Douches, Ph.D.

Professor; Director of: MSU Potato Breeding & Genetics, Plant Breeding Genetics & Biotech, and USAID Feed the Future Global Biotech Partnership
douchesd@msu.edu
517-884-6946
Kevin Frank, Ph.D.

Professor and Turf Extension Specialist
frankk@msu.edu
517-353-0147
David Gilstrap, Ph.D.

Senior Academic Specialist - Sports and Commercial Turf Management Education.
gilstrap@msu.edu
517-353-0140
Susan Gruber

Undergraduate Advisor and Instructor
grubers@msu.edu
517-353-0326
Andrey Guber, Ph.D.

Professor - Soil physics, soil hydrology and modeling water flow, solute and microbial transport in soils.
akguber@msu.edu
517-353-0269
Linda Hanson, Ph.D.

USDA-ARS Plant Pathologist/ Adjunct Prof. - Soil-borne pathogens, fungi, sugar beet & rotation crops, diversity/ interaction w/ cropping systems
linda.hanson@usda.gov
517-353-0208
Mary Hausbeck, Ph.D.

Associate Chairperson, University Distinguished Professor and Extension Specialist
hausbec1@msu.edu
517-355-4534
Erin Hill, Ph.D.

Weed Science Diagnostician
hiller12@msu.edu
517-432-9693
Valerio Hoyos-Villegas, PH.D.

Assistant Professor
hoyosval@msu.edu
Sarah Hughson, Ph.D.

Insect/Arthropod Diagnostician
hughsons@msu.edu
517-353-9386
Michelle Hulin, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
hulinmic@msu.edu
Krista Isaacs, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor - International Seed Systems, International agriculture.
isaacskr@msu.edu
517-353-0155
Alexandra Kravchenko, Ph.D.

Professor - Soil spatial variability at scales from micro-aggregates to landscapes; statistical and geostatistical methods of data analysis.
kravche1@msu.edu
517-353-0469
Sarah Lebeis, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
lebeissa@msu.edu
517-353-0165
Richard Lenski, Ph.D.

University Distinguished Professor
lenski@msu.edu
517-884-5397
Hui Li, Ph.D.

Professor of Environmental and Soil Chemistry
lihui@msu.edu
517-353-0151
Chris Long, M.S.

Potato Extension Specialist
longch@msu.edu
517-353-0277
Emily Merewitz-Holm, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Plant physiologist; abiotic & biotic stresses of turfgrass and crop species; whole-plant, biochemical, & molecular techniques.
merewitz@msu.edu
517-353-0203
Timothy Miles, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Extension Specialist for diseases of blueberries, grapes, hops and other berry crops.
milesti2@msu.edu
517-355-3964
Laura Miles, M.S.

Molecular Detection and Diagnostics
lmiles@msu.edu
517-353-2675
James Moran, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Stable isotope analysis; biogeochemistry; rhizosphere processes; instrument development
moranja7@msu.edu
Rachel Naegele, Ph.D.

USDA-ARS Adjunct Assistant Professor - Sugarbeet genetics/breeding
rachel.naegele@usda.gov
517-353-0207
Pouyan Nejadhashemi, Ph.D.

MSU Research Foundation Professor
pouyan@msu.edu
517-432-7653
Thomas Nikolai, Ph.D.

Senior Turfgrass Academic Specialist - Golf Course Putting Green mechanical and cultural practices, turfgrass health.
nikolait@msu.edu
517-353-0133
Eric Olson, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Wheat Breeding and Genetics
eolson@msu.edu
517-353-0142
Eric Patterson, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Weed Geneticist
Patte543@msu.edu
517-353-0467
Dennis Pennington, M.S.

Wheat Systems Specialist
pennin34@msu.edu
269-832-0497
Karen Renner, Ph.D.

Professor & Teaching Coordinator, Integrated weed management including weed seed fate and diversified cropping systems influence on weed dynamics.
renner@msu.edu
517-353-0233
Seung Yon (Sue) Rhee, Ph.D.

MSU Foundation Professor-Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Plant Biology, and Plant, Soil & Microbiology and Director of MSU’s Plant Resilience Institute
rheeseu6@msu.edu
John Rogers III, Ph.D.

Professor, Turfgrass Research-Golf Course Renovations-Sports Turf and Golf Turf Management Programs; Turfgrass Research
rogersj@msu.edu
517-353-0136
Alejandro Rojas, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor - Ecology and biology of soil microbes, management of plant pathogens.
rojasfle@msu.edu
517-353-0116
Joan Rose, Ph.D.

Homer Nowlin Chair in Water Research; Professor; Director, Water Alliance
rosejo@msu.edu
517-432-4412
Hatem Rouached, PH.D.

Assistant Professor; Plant Mineral nutrition: sensing, signaling, and transport
rouached@msu.edu
517-353-0157
Maninder Singh, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Cropping Systems Agronomy
msingh@msu.edu
517-353-0226
Christy Sprague, Ph.D.

Professor, Crops and Soils Sciences Program Director and Extension Specialist
sprague1@msu.edu
517-353-0224
Christine Sprunger, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
sprunge5@msu.edu
Kurt Steinke, Ph.D.

Professor and Extension Specialist, Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management
ksteinke@msu.edu
517-353-0271
George Sundin, Ph.D.

University Distinguished Professor and Extension Specialist
sundin@msu.edu
517-355-4573
Brian Teppen, Ph.D.

Professor - Soil chem., molecular simulation, atomic-scale mechanisms, thermodynamics, kinetics of sorption reactions at mineral surfaces.
teppen@msu.edu
517-353-0481
Kurt Thelen, Ph.D.

Professor - Bioenergy Cropping Systems; and, Director, MSU-Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center
thelenk3@msu.edu
517-353-0232
Addie Thompson, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor - Maize genetics and genomics; quantitative genetics; plant morphology; drought stress; high-throughput phenotyping.
thom1718@msu.edu
517-353-0112
Lisa Tiemann, Ph.D.

Associate Prof. - Soil Biology/Ecology & Biogeochemistry; mechanisms of soil organic matter formation & microbial controls on soil nitrogen cycling
ltiemann@msu.edu
517-353-0487
Frances Trail, Ph.D.

Professor - Mycology; host-pathogen interactions.
trail@msu.edu
Robert VanBuren

Associate Professor - Integrative genomics, quantitative genetics, and plant evolution; MSUs Plant Resilience Institute.
vanbur31@msu.edu
517-353-0355
Dechun Wang, Ph.D.

Professor - Soybean genetics/genomics; to improve plant performance, host plant resistance and seed chemical composition.
wangdech@msu.edu
517-353-0219
Barret Wessel, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor - Pedology
wesselba@msu.edu
517-353-0270
Jaime Willbur, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor - Integrated disease management in potato and sugar beet production
willbur1@msu.edu
517-355-4754
Wei Zhang, Ph.D.

Interim Department Chair and Professor - Environmental and Soil Physics
weizhang@msu.edu
517-353-0471