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BONNIE MCGILL

Bonnie MCGill, Ph.d.
ecosystem ecology * science communication

David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow, Carnegie Museum of Natural History Science Communication Fellow

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​Bonnie McGill, Ph.D.

Ecosystem ecologist and conservation scientist
David H. Smith Conservation Fellow

How do we produce enough food to feed the world in a way that nurtures, rather than erodes, the ecosystems we depend on?  One key is biodiversity: on farms it builds resilience into the biophysical and economic systems in a changing climate. I work at the intersection of agriculture, climate change, and water resources to understand how conservation in agricultural watersheds affects water quality and greenhouse gases. By protecting water quality and mitigating climate change we nurture habitat for biodiversity that provides invaluable ecosystem services.  I integrate sociology with ecology to understand the human dimensions of nutrient cycling to better inform my models and conservation policy. These research topics are relevant to society, and I believe that a scientist's role in society is to not only produce new knowledge but also to communicate new knowledge to the public in a way that empowers them to make science-informed decisions about their lives and communities. Please explore the links above to learn more about my work.
Twitter @BonnSci.
See my CV.

LinkedIn 
Google Scholar
bonniemcgill (at) gmail.com

"Conservation...is a positive exercise of skill and insight, not merely a negative exercise of abstinence or caution."
--Aldo Leopold, The Farmer as a Conservationist

"Ask the questions that have 
no answers.
Invest in the millennium."
--Wendell Berry



Updated 9 Oct 2019. 
Photo: Irrigated corn in Michigan.

News

Oct. 2020: Gave talks at the U. of Pittsburgh Dept. of Geology and Environment Seminar and the Pittsburgh Water Collaboratory. 

Sept. 2020: Conducted my first ever session of climate change knowledge co-production with our agriculture working group in the Climate and Rural Systems Partnership.

Jan. 2020: Moved to Pittsburgh PA to begin Science Communication Fellowship at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History on the Climate and Rural Systems Partnership project. 

Aug. 2019: Moved to Iowa City to work with the Iowa Geological Survey at the University of Iowa.

Apr. 2019: Hosted Smith Fellows retreat at the Iowa Lakeside Lab. Welcome, 2019 Smith Fellows!

Jan. 2019: Conducted 5 focus group discussions with farmers in the Raccoon and Boone watersheds in Iowa.

​Dec. 2018: Invited to present at the Raccoon River Watershed Association meeting in Panora, IA.

June 2018: Started my Smith Fellowship Postdoc in the Burgin/Loecke Lab at the University of Kansas. Hello, Lawrence, KS!

Feb. 2018: Designed artwork for and helped launch PlantLoveStories -- a new blog created by Smith Fellows documenting how plants shape our lives. Share your plant love story!


Jan. 2018: Awarded a Smith Conservation Fellowship to work at Kansas U. with Drs. Amy Burgin and Terry Loecke, and Dr. Dean Hively at USGS!

Dec 2017: Successful Ph.D. defense and outstanding student poster award at AGU in New Orleans.


March 2017: Had an amazing experience in Botswana and South Africa (stay tuned for a publication and blog post).  Back at KBS now.  And am a finalist in the iBiology Young Scientist Seminar competition.
​
Sept. 2016: I'm in South Africa working on a USAID Borlaug fellowship.  Back at KBS in early March 2017.

Aug. 2016: Sad to see my REU interns leave!  Thank you for all your hard work, Neshia and Julie.  

Jan. 2016: Updating the layout and content here.  Hope you like it!

Dec. 2015: Received an Outstanding Student Presentation Award at the American Geophysical Union for my poster in the Hydrology section.  And had a great time at the conference!

Dec. 2015: Awarded a USAID Borlaug Fellowship to work with the International Water Management Institute in Pretoria, South Africa in 2016.

Jan. 2015: Happy New Year!  Check out the quick video describing my PhD research on my Research page.



Nov. 2014: The MSU Environmental Science & Policy Program chose me for their Outstanding Service Award. 


Oct. 2014: Presented a poster on my sociological research plans at the MSU Environmental Science & Policy Research Symposium.


Sept. 2014: Gave a short presentation of my research as part of the annual KBS LTER All Investigators Field Tour.  

June 2014: Getting started in the NSF KBS GK-12 program…Designing a lesson plan on inorganic C cycling (it's fun, I promise!)

June 2014: I was honored to be invited back to my high school in Marion Center, Pennsylvania to be the guest speaker at their commencement ceremony.  Congratulations, graduates!  You can read my speech here.

May 2014: Had a great time last week learning all about stable isotopes and how to measure them in the "Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry" short course at MSU.

May 2014: Check out the web site I built for the Hamilton Lab: www.msu.edu/~hamilton.

April 2014: Installed soil porewater samplers at the Kellogg Biological Station LTER.

April 2013: Check out my scientific illustrations in this PeerJ article: 
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.70

April 2013: Awarded a graduate research fellowship from NSF!

Dec. 2012: Be sure to check out my AGua blogua!  It's a blog I started recently that covers topics at the intersection of agriculture, water and climate change.
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