Lab Members
Richard Lankau
Principle Investigator
Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of Plant Pathology
Email: lankau@wisc.edu
Current Graduate Students
Max Miao
PhD Candidate, Department of Plant Pathology University of Wisconsin-Madison
Area of Study: Studying the effects of plant microbiome on plant nutrition, immunity, and health using potatoes as our model organism of interest. I am particularly focused on using metagenomic community profiling along with statistical analysis to characterize microbial community dynamics.
Email: mjmiao@wisc.edu
Zachary Zalewski
PhD Student, Department of Plant Pathology University of Wisconsin-Madison
MS (2018): Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin Madison
Undergraduate: University of Wisconsin – La Crosse
Area of Study: I am researching the effects of oat geno-type on the rhizosphere/soil microbiome and investigating potential mutualism between cereal grains and soil fungi. Outside of the lab I love cuddling with my cat Moxie.
Kathleen Thompson
PhD Candidate Department of Botany University of Wisconsin-Madison
MS (2018): Iowa State University
Area of Study: Abiotic factors influencing mycorrhizae colonization of a dually colonized tree, Populus deltoides.
Daniel Hayden
PhD Student, Department of Plant Pathology University of Wisconsin-Madison
B.S. (2019) Plant Biology: University of Oklahoma
Area of Study: I am working in collaboration with the Oneida agricultural co-op, Ohe láku, to understand the relationship between soil microbial communities and diverse crop production approaches for their sacred white corn. My focus is utilizing the traditional knowledge of Indigenous people to understand scientific mechanisms and drive research from an Indigenous perspective
Research Associates
Isabelle George
Laboratory Manager, Research Specialist
Department of Plant Pathology University of Wisconsin-Madison
Email: igeorge@wisc.edu
M.S. (2017) Environmental Science and Policy – University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
B.S. (2014) Biology – Palm Beach Atlantic University
Shan Shan
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Department of Plant Pathology University of Wisconsin-Madison
PhD (2020) Miami University Ohio
Area of Research: Linking soil microbial community composition to ecosystem function in potato production systems.
Teal Potter
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Department of Plant Pathology University of Wisconsin-Madison
PhD (2018) University of Colorado-Boulder Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The research I am working on links soil nutrient pools with microbial communities to better understand soil processes. By pairing analysis of soils from organic dairy farms in Wisconsin with greenhouse experiments, I investigate how soil management changes soils over time for multiple crop species including soybeans, corn and rye.
Email: tpotter6@wisc.edu
Website: https://tealpotter.weebly.com
Cassandra Allsup
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Department of Plant Pathology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
PhD (2014) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Area of Study: Plant-mycorrhizae relationship continuum
Email: callsup@wisc.edu
Former Graduate Students
Chelsea Cunard
Department of Plant Biology
University of Georgia-Athens
Former Postdoctoral Research Associates/Lab Managers
Daniel Keymer
Assistant Professor
College of Natural Resources, Soil and Waste Resources
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Rachel Norduft
Department of Plant Biology
University of Georgia-Athens