Executive Director of the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative

Leena Vilonen earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Northwestern University in 2016 and her Ph.D. from Colorado State University in 2022. She is excited to be back at CSU and working with the GSBI. Her research from her Ph.D. aimed to understand how global change drivers, such as drought, impact resistance and resilience of the soil microbial community (bacteria and fungi) in grasslands using amplicon sequencing. Her research largely focused on understanding the legacy effects of drought (responses post-disturbance) and how to define the term legacy effects.

Sustainability Leadership Fellow Cohort: 2021-2022

Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biology and the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology

Research Summary: Climate models currently predict an intensification of the hydrological cycle, with drought becoming increasingly frequent, widespread, and severe. This predicted intensification of drought has the potential to catastrophically impact the future changing climate if past droughts are any indication of the future response. My research focuses on the impacts of drought on the soil microbiome in grassland systems throughout and after drought. I hope my research will highlight the impacts of drought and allow future policy makers to mitigate these impacts or understand the severity of drought.