The Kaproth Lab includes Biology MS graduate students and undergraduate students. We work as a team to explore questions related to plant biology, ecology, conservation and evolution.
Matthew Kaproth
Principal Investigator
Naglis Subacius
Biology MS Graduate Student
Naglis is interested in the physiological and community dynamics of trees, mycorrhizal fungi, and their other microbial partners. His research focuses on how these partners coordinate in response to drought. Specifically, Naglis seeks to investigate how trees might alter their root architecture under water stress and what influence this could have upon the microorganisms living on those roots. Ultimately, this research aims to better understand the mechanisms by which tree communities will adapt to altered drought dynamics under climate change. This research is a symbiosis with the long-term Forest and Biodiversity Experiment 2 at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve.
RISEbio
The Plants and Environmental Stress research stream is an early opportunity for undergraduate students to work on pressing questions. They learn how to design experiments and identify the traits that enable plants to acclimate or adapt to survive in their environments. Learn More
Kaproth Lab Alumni
Biology MS Graduate Students
- Alex Kirsch (2019-2021) - Defining Plant Ecological Specialists and Generalists: Building a Framework for Identification and Classification
- Ainsley Peterson (2018-2020) - Vegetation Surveys in Southern MN Prairies: Management, Invasive Species and Future Directions
- Travis Paradis (2017-2019) - Evolution of Drought Tolerance: Partitioning of Non Structural Carbohydrates Across Quercus spp.
Ashley Selee
Biology MS '23
Ashley worked on forest ecology and understanding forest community structure. Ashley's interests also included understanding how our forest will change with shifts in climate, as well as how disturbance events like fire impact forest structure and management decisions. Her research focused on creating a framework to assess oak species (Quercus) functional traits adaptation related to fire resistance (leaf, stem and bark functional traits can be scored based on their fire resistance). Her research mapped the fire resistance scores of Quercus across the United States.
Jean Pengra
Biology MS '23
Jean Pengra work on plant community ecology and ecophysiology, as well as how science is translated into management practices. He has high interest in midwestern biomes with a focus on areas vulnerable to ecosystem shift under climate change. Jean's research project investigated how environmental heterogeneity at a microclimatic scale drives plant diversity within oak savannas.
