Principle Investigator
Matthew Levi
Dr. Levi is an Associate Professor of Soil Science in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at the University of Georgia. His research focuses on the nexus of soil, vegetation and water at the landscape scale.
He is interested in linking spatiotemporal patterns to processes and discerning responses to anthropogenic and global changes for improved natural resource planning and sustainable land management. By advancing landscape-scale models for predictions of soil and vegetation and ecosystem function, the aim is to develop a robust toolset for scientists, land managers, and decision makers to apply to challenges in managing our vital soil resource and mitigating problems associated with global changes.
Technical Support
Matthew Thibodeaux
Coordinates, facilitates, and commits to any project in lab, including graduate students and undergraduate students. Organizes and manages all field work.
Achievements:
- Once cooked minute rice in 57 seconds.
- Arm wrestled Bigfoot (I let him win)
- Listened to The Beatles before they were cool
- Invented the One Armed Soccer Ball (patent pending)
- Eagle Scout
Graduate Students
MS
Samantha Biernat
MSc in Soil Science, University of Georgia
(2024-present)
Jason Wheatley (co-advisor)
Testing of Piedmont Floodplains Soils (F19) Hydric Soils Indicator
MSc in Soil Science, University of Georgia
(2024 – present)
Madelyn Willis
Digital Soil Mapping in the Coastal Plains: Efficacy of Sampling Design and Covariates
MSc in Soil Science, University of Georgia
(2024 – present)
PhD
Shea Hoffman
PhD in Soil Science, University of Georgia
(2024-present)
Daniel Jackson
How Spatial Variability of Soil Characteristics Influence Sulfur Availability and Pungency of Vidalia Onions
PhD in Soil Science, University of Georgia (in progress)
Former Students & Post Docs
Chandler Gruener
Soil Health Benefits of a White Clover Living Mulch System in Georgia
PhD in Soil Science, University of Georgia
Patricia Lawson
Digital Soil Mapping to Improve Variable Rate Irrigation
MSc in Soil Science, University of Georgia
Derrick Platero (co-advisor)
Quantifying Spatiotemporal Variability in Hydropedological Properties in a Georgia Piedmont Floodplain: A Digital Soil Mapping Example
MSc in Soil Science, University of Georgia (2019 – 2022)
Rajneesh Sharma
Scaling Up of Dynamic Soil Properties with Land Resource Hierarchy in the Southern Coastal Plain
MSc in Soil Science, University of Georgia (2019 – 2021)
Undergraduate Research Projects
- Damian Hans
Using GIS Methods to Reconstruct Fire History and Land Use within Whitehall Forest
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia (completed) - Matthew Molini
Simulating the Effect of Wildfire on Soil Magnetism through Controlled Laboratory Experiments
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia (completed) - Cortney Stevenson
Local Variability in Soil Physical/chemical Properties Within a Floodplain-Point Bar System along the North Oconee River, SE Piedmont Region (Athens, Georgia, USA)
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia (in progress)
Pre-collegiate Research Projects
- Joan Deitsch
Soils Remember the Human Footprint on the Landscape
UGA CAES Young Scholars Program Mentor (2019)
Post Doctoral Scholars
- Kevin Achieng
Soil Moisture and Wildfire Prediction
University of Georgia (2020 – 2022) - Rajendra Panda
Prediction of Soil Moisture and Temperature Regimes
University of Georgia (2020 – 2021) - Grant Snitker
Soil Moisture and Wildfire Prediction
University of Georgia (2019 – 2020)