Meet Sophie Winowiski '24 and Maja Petros '25, two brilliant environmental science students who are 'digging deep' this summer at our Prairie Springs Environmental Education Center. Under the mentorship of Dr. Todd Levine and Dr. Suzanne Joneson, these honors students are leading research on the impact of buckthorn on the soil mycobiome. Through cutting-edge metagenome (DNA) sequencing of soil samples, Sophie and Maja are on a quest to uncover valuable insights for effective land management strategies. "Sophie actually approached me to see if I would be interested in doing any research with her, and she had a vague idea knowing that she wanted to look at how an invasive species impacted native species," said Maja Petros. "At the time, I was learning more about buckthorn and its effects here, and in one of my other classes, we were talking about fungus...and we wanted to find a way to tie those two together since it merged my interests and her interests." We can't wait to see the incredible insights that Sophie, Maja and their mentors will unearth! #carrollu #environmentalscience #research