Meet The Team
Pankaj Trivedi
Principle Investigator
Kristen Otto
Lab Manager
Kristen Otto is the Microbiome Lab Manager; encompassing the Trivedi, Metcalf and Hall Labs. She has worked for CSU for over 31 years including 5 years with the Microbiome cluster and 26 years as an applied Plath Pathologist. Kristen was born and raised in Colorado and has lived in Fort Collins since 1987. She is a happy empty-nester, with her husband Gary, and they have three 20 something kids who have flown the coop. She enjoys quilting and gardening in her spare time.
Leena Vilonen
PhD student
Leena Vilonen is a PhD student in the Trivedi lab. She studies resistance, resilience, and legacy effects of the microbiome to drought. She hopes to understand how the microbial community and nutrient cycling (C and N) responds during and after drought. Her favorite part about working with the Trivedi lab is the community and the collaborative nature of the lab. Leena grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and has pet ferret named Lenny.
Laura Mockel
Masters Student
Maggie Gaylord
Masters student
Maggie is a masters student in the agricultural biology department at CSU. She graduated from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry in upstate New York and has been gaining practical experience working in plant health care. In the lab, she is working on a project studying the effects of herbicides on the microbiome in sugarbeet fields. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and running with her dog Salix.
Kate Bazany
PhD student
Kate Bazany is a second year PhD student in the Agricultural Biology Department and the Ecology Program. Kate is currently researching the impact of drought on corn and sugar beet microbiomes and the impact of soil microbial communities on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonization. She’s most interested in projects that can lead to improvements in food security or mitigate climate change. When not in the lab, Kate loves long hikes in the mountains.
Andie Gonzales
PhD student
I am Andie Gonzales, I am a Ph.D. student in the Trivedi Lab, I am part of the GDPE program. I am from Peru, I am currently in my third semester. I am studying how rhizosphere and endosphere microbiome systems under climate stress (warming and drought). This research is localized in Minnesota, it is part of the experiment called B4Warmed (Boreal Forest Warming at an Ecotone in Danger). I am very interested in understanding how those abiotic factors affect the rhizosphere microbiome, then consequently affect the endosphere microbiome, modifying the recruiting of the microbiome community. During my free time, I like going hiking and swimming, and exploring different cultures across the world.
LeAundra Schopflin
PhD student
LeAundra Schöpflin is a Ph.D. student in the Ecology program at CSU. They started their work with the Trivedi lab in the Spring of 2021. Previously, they got their undergraduate degree in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Utah and their Master’s degree in Marine
Biosciences at the University of Delaware where they worked on estuarine archaeal communities
with Dr. Jennifer Biddle. Their current work focuses on tracking changes in soil microbial
community structure and respiration under climate change conditions (warming and drought). LeAundra grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah and is very involved in the music and art scene. On their days off they spend their time with their Dalmatian, Wasabi.
Jeongyun Choi
PhD Student
Jeongyun Choi is from Republic of Korea. Her major was environmental and biological chemistry at Chungbuk National University. She had worked about environmental stress on plant and ACC deaminase producing bacteria during her masters. She likes to be called as June.
Jing Yuan
Post-Doc
My research goal is to exploit the functional microbial species in natural environments. Areas of my interest are broad and include (1) microbial ecology; (2) microbial “omics” technologies; (3) synthetic microbiome and biology; (4) microbial engineering and biosensor; (5) and good food, marvelous scenery and adventurous life.
My google scholar:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=zh-CN&user=xUXH4P0AAAAJ
My github:
Abby Thompson
Undergraduate student
Abby Thompson is a biochemistry major at CSU. She has been working as an undergraduate with the Trivedi lab for almost three years. She plans on joining the lab as a graduate student studying ecology. Her favorite part about working in the Trivedi Lab is the opportunities to learn and grow as a scientist. Abby grew up in Monument, Colorado and enjoys spending time with her dog Winnie.
Sam Altaffer
Undergraduate student
Sam Altaffer is pursuing a degree in Biochemistry and has been working with the Trivedi Lab for about half a year. As an undergraduate student, they are interested in gaining experience in any form of biological research but hope to refine their niche in the coming years. She enjoys being a helping hand wherever needed in the lab and wants to learn from anyone who will teach. They grew up in Northern California and love experiencing the change in climate here as well as exploring the outdoors in her spare time
Zach Tiernan
Undergraduate student
Hi, I’m Zachary Tiernan a Junior Undergraduate at Colorado State University. I am currently studying Agricultural Biology with a concentration in weed science. After my undergraduate I’d like to eventually work up to my master's and PhD. I really enjoy running, video games, outdoors activities and spending time with my family and friends. I currently have 2 cats and enjoy spending time with my animals.