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members of the lab |
Harvesting threesquare bulrush at Blue Lake (Salt Springs Waterfowl Management Area)
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In our lab at USU, working with seeds/seedlings in our growth chambers.
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In the mountains near Logan.
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Dr. Karin Kettenring, Professor
Karin is head of the Wetland Ecology and Restoration Lab in the Department of Watershed Sciences at Utah State University.
She has a B.A. in biology from Oberlin College. She received her Ph.D. in applied plant sciences from the University of Minnesota where she worked with Dr. Susan Galatowitsch. Her Ph.D. research focused on restoration of sedges in prairie pothole wetlands. She was also a Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Dennis Whigham at Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland where she studied the invasion of Phragmites australis in Chesapeake Bay tidal wetlands. She has been a faculty member at Utah State since 2008.
Her current research efforts focus on (1) the ecology, genetics, and management of wetland invaders, (2) seed ecology of native wetlands plants, with implications for wetland revegetation, and (3) restoration genetics for sustainable, functioning wetland restorations.
For more information see her Google Scholar page, ResearchGate page, or follow her on Twitter @KarinKettenring. Her email is karin.kettenring [at] gmail.com
She has a B.A. in biology from Oberlin College. She received her Ph.D. in applied plant sciences from the University of Minnesota where she worked with Dr. Susan Galatowitsch. Her Ph.D. research focused on restoration of sedges in prairie pothole wetlands. She was also a Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Dennis Whigham at Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland where she studied the invasion of Phragmites australis in Chesapeake Bay tidal wetlands. She has been a faculty member at Utah State since 2008.
Her current research efforts focus on (1) the ecology, genetics, and management of wetland invaders, (2) seed ecology of native wetlands plants, with implications for wetland revegetation, and (3) restoration genetics for sustainable, functioning wetland restorations.
For more information see her Google Scholar page, ResearchGate page, or follow her on Twitter @KarinKettenring. Her email is karin.kettenring [at] gmail.com
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Sam Kurkowski, Lab Manager |
Emily Santos, Ph.D. student |
Mac Cutler, Research Technician |
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Sam has been the Lab Manager since May of 2023, when she completed her MS in Ecology at Michigan Technological University studying vernal pools in Great Lakes National Parks. As lab manager, she helps the lab run smoothly and facilitates many different projects. Sam is passionate about wetland ecology and restoration and particularly enjoys the researcher-manager collaboration that WERL cultivates. In addition to her typical duties, she has a project surveying fens in the Uinta Mountains which began in summer of 2024. In her free time she enjoys trail running, canoeing, and sewing.
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Emily joined the lab in fall 2024 and is co-advised by Dr. Karen Beard in WILD and Dr. Kettenring. Her project in the WERL focuses on seed bank resilience to hydrologic extremes, and her interests expand to many topics within functional trait ecology. Her work will inform future Utah Lake wetland restoration efforts. Emily graduated from Cal Poly Humboldt in 2020 with a MS in Environmental Systems (Geology Focus) where she studied forest hydrology in coastal Ecuador. Emily received her BS in Geology and Geologic Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island (2016) where she also completed a Graduate Certificate in Hydrology (2017). She enjoys communicating science through art and exploring Utah’s beautiful National Parks.
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Mac is a junior at USU and joined the lab in Spring 2025. She is studying Management and Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems with minors in Mathematics and Marine Science. In the past, she has worked as a technician in the Fire Ecology and the Quantitative Fish and Aquatic Ecology labs at USU, where she became interested in native vegetation, climate change, hydrology, and fish habitat. She also worked as an intern for USU's Climate Adaptation Program to create a fact sheet about climate change impacts to wetlands in Utah. She is very interested in wetland science and excited to learn more about wetland ecology and restoration as part of the lab. In her free time, Mac likes to hike, read, and garden.
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Sandy Johnston, Research Scientist
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Adelyn Garner, Research Scientist |
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Sandy has worked in our lab for a number of years including as an undergraduate researcher in spring 2023. In spring 2024, she completed her Masters of Ecological Restoration and transitioned from a lab technician to a Research Scientist position in our lab, focusing on aquatic plant restoration. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, hiking, drawing, and playing musical instruments.
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Adelyn started in our lab in the fall of 2025. Adelyn is studying Freshwater and Marine Ecology with the goal of working in restoration and conservation. Adelyn is an avid outdoor enthusiast who enjoys backpacking, mountain biking, free diving, and skiing. She also loves photography and traveling.
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Graduates
- Montana Horchler defended her thesis in fall 2025. Her thesis can be found here: pending.
- Thesis presentation is viewable here.
- Hailey Machnikowski defended her thesis in fall 2025. Her thesis can be found here: pending.
- Thesis presentation is viewable here.
- Loren Taylor defended her thesis in summer 2025. Her thesis can be found here: Integrating Manager Perspectives Into the Evaluation of Wetland Revegetation Strategies
- Thesis presentation is viewable here.
- Meghan Slocombe defended her thesis in fall 2024. Her thesis can be found here: Potamogeton Crispus Invasion: Impacts on Native Aquatic Plants and Associated Faunal Habitat
- Thesis presentation is viewable here.
- Maddie Houde defended her thesis in spring 2024. She is now a Protected Plants Specialist with the Nevada Division of Forestry. Her thesis can be found here: Revegetation Strategies for Native Wetland Plant Restoration in the Face of Phragmites australis Reinvasion and Hydrologic Extremes
- Thesis presentation is viewable here.
- Elana Feldman defended her MS thesis is fall 2023. She now works for the Working Lands Conservation as a Project Manager in Utah. Her thesis can be found here: The Effect of Seed Mix Density and Composition on Wetland Plant Community Assembly in the Great Salt Lake Watershed
- Thesis presentation is viewable here.
- Jes Braun defended their MS in spring 2023. They are an Ecologist with Inter-Fluve in Hood River, Oregon. Their thesis can be found here: Restoration Strategies for Wetlands in the Arid West: Seeding and Planting Approaches for Lakeshore Ecosystems
- Thesis presentation is viewable here.
- Kate Sinnott defended her MS in spring 2023. She is now a Seed Technologist with the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association. Here thesis can be found here: Overcoming Barriers to Aquatic Plant Restoration: Addressing Gaps in Species Identification and Planting Techniques in the Intermountain West
- Thesis presentation is viewable here.
- Emily Tarsa defended her PhD in fall 2022. She is now an Assistant Professor at Georgia Coastal University. Her dissertation can be found here: Seed Ecology and Regeneration Processes to Inform Seed-Based Wetland Restoration
- Dissertation presentation is viewable here.
- Coryna Hebert defended her MS degree in spring 2022. Her thesis can be found here: The Effect of Species Choice, Seed Mix Composition, and Microtopography on Native Plant Restoration in Great Salt Lake Wetlands. She now works for Ducks Unlimited as a biologist out of SLC.
- Thesis presentation is viewable here.
- Rae Robinson defended her MS degree in spring 2021. Her research focused on the effects of seed mix composition, sowing density, and seedling survival on plant community reassembly in Great Salt Lake wetlands.
- Emily Leonard defended her MS degree in fall 2019. Her research focused on arthropod assemblages in Phragmites-invaded, native-plant dominated, and restored Great Salt Lake wetlands.
- Brittany Duncan defended her MS degree in summer 2018. Her research focused on control of Phragmites with cattle and nutrient impacts. She is the Invasive Species Monitoring Specialist with Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
- David England defended his MS degree in January 2018. His research focused on Seeding treatments to enhance seedling performance of the bulrushes Bolboschoenus maritimus, Schoenoplectus acutus, and S. americanus in wetland restorations. He is Assistant Wetland Manager at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.
- Christine Rohal graduated with her Ph.D. in spring 2018. Her research focused on Invasive Phragmites australis management in Great Salt Lake wetlands: context dependency and scale effects on vegetation and seed banks. She is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Florida.
- Eric Hazelton graduated in summer 2017. His Ph.D. focused on control of Phragmites australis in Chesapeake Bay wetlands.
- Chad Cranney graduated in spring 2016. His MS thesis focused on Control of large stands of Phragmites australis in Great Salt Lake wetlands. He is now Salt Creek and Public Shooting Grounds Waterfowl Management Area Wetland Manager, Assistant Wildlife Manager, and Waterfowl Invasive Weed Project Leader.
- Jimmy Marty graduated in spring 2016. His MS thesis was on Revegetation of bulrushes Bolboschoenus maritimus, Schoenoplectus acutus, and S. americanus in Great Salt Lake wetlands: seed biology and influence of environmental factors on rhizomes. He now works for an environmental consulting firm in Minneapolis, MN.
- Lexine Long graduated in 2014. Her MS thesis was on the Distribution and drivers of a widespread, invasive wetland grass, Phragmites australis, in Great Salt Lake wetlands.
- Caroline Laine graduated in 2011. Her MS thesis focused on: An assessment of vegetation metrics and plot types to measure seasonal variation and grazing effects on riparian plant communities.
- Amanda Sweetman graduated in 2013. Her MS thesis focused on: The ecology and genetics of Schoenoplectus maritimus, an important emergent macrophyte, across diverse hydrologic conditions—implications for restoration.
- Diane Menuz graduated in 2011. Her MS thesis focused on: Using species distribution models to assess invasion theory and provide management recommendations for riparian areas in the eastern Columbia and western Missouri River basins. She now lives in Salt Lake City, UT, and is the State Wetland Coordinator for the Utah Geological Survey.
Undergraduate alumni
- Sandy Johnston.
- Sage Chatterton.
- Bailey Holdaway evaluated different different native seed mix densities and timings (priority effects) for invasion resistance to phragmites.
- Audree Provard focused on alkali bulrush functional trait variation.
- Rachel Chamberlain focused on threesquare bulrush functional trait variation.
- Anders Hart researched the effectiveness of seed coatings for enhancing seed germination and seedling performance of bulrush in Great Salt Lake wetland restorations.
- Gabriela Judd focused on variation in alkali bulrush seed and seedling traits.
- Casey Trout focused on the effects of cold, moist stratification on alkali bulrush dormancy loss.
- Bret Mossman evaluated the germination potential of bulrush seeds extracted from waterfowl gizzards. He graduated in spring 2017 and is now a graduate student at University of Hawaii.
- Konnon Smith conducted an undergraduate research project on the carbohydrate dynamics in rhizomes of Phragmites australis in Great Salt Lake wetlands.
- Delena Williams evaluated techniqes for germinating bulrushes for revegetation in Great Salt Lake wetlands. She graduated in spring 2017.
- Evan Pool developed allometric techniques for monitoring invasive Phragmites australis in Great Salt Lake wetlands.