Kent Connell is a PhD candidate in the Division of Biology at Kansas State University. Kent came to Kansas from the University of Tennessee where he received his B.S. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology looking at how soil processes affected the success of an ant-dispersed herbaceous plant, Jeffersonia diphylla, in the forests of Eastern Tennessee.

Interested in ecosystem ecology and microbial ecology, Kent joined John Blair’s lab in 2015 and began working at the Konza Prairie Biological Station to address the impact of invasive plants and woody encroachment on soil carbon storage. He uses field studies, greenhouse experiments, laboratory incubations, and long-term data synthesis to better understand the flow of carbon in and out of grassland soils. If you are interested in Kent’s research visit his Twitter or just shoot him an e-mail: rkconnell@ksu.edu.

When Kent is not working, he is exploring or petting his cats: Neko and Okra.