Matthew Nieland is a PhD candidate in the Division of Biology at Kansas State University. Matt received his B.S. and B.A. in Biology and Chemistry from Morningside University in Iowa. During his undergraduate studies, Matt studied the ecology of wetland microbes.
Matt joined Dr. Lydia Zeglin's lab in the summer of 2017 as an REU student and returned the following summer as a graduate student. Matt studies how tallgrass prairies recover from long-term nitrogen fertilization. As a microbial and ecosystem ecologist, he is interested in how fire and soil microbes mediate nitrogen removal from prairies. He uses soil from the Belowground Plots to run laboratory incubations and molecular assays to assess nitrogen transformations and availability and microbial community composition.
When not working, Matt is either traveling or chatting (often loudly) with his friends. If you are interested in Matt's research, visit his Twitter or contact him at nielandm@ksu.edu.
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/MatthewNieland1