Viviana defends her MS!

Viviana…from MS on to PhD.

Congratulations to Viviana Penuela! She recently defended her Master’s degree research, and has now deposited her approved thesis, thus successfully completing her M.S. degree. Viviana’s research addressed the link between land management policy and soil biogeochemistry. In particular, she examined how soil organic matter and nutrient pools in residential lawns were affected by different lawn system management strategies. These different strategies arise from an interaction between municipal-level policies and  the yard-care behaviors of individual home residents. Distinct high-amendment and low-amendment strategy types were evident, and corresponded with the use of reclaimed water. Viviana’s work identified important implications for soil chemistry and microbiology, and contributes to understanding ecological variability in urban systems. Good work Viviana!