Regenerative agriculture is often associated with restoring key ecosystem services such as nutrient retention, erosion prevention, and climate resiliency. There is also an expectation that regenerative agriculture will improve soil biodiversity, which has important implications for overall ecosystem functioning. Despite these expectations, there are several unknowns regarding the long-term maintenance of regenerative agriculture and how consistent management may impact soil carbon accrual, soil food webs, and climate resiliency.

As part of the 2025 Summer Lecture Series, Dr. Christine Sprunger will outline the case for integrating free-living nematodes into the soil health framework to better understand sustainability goals and climate resiliency within agroecosystems.

Sprunger is an associate professor of soil health at Michigan State University and is currently serving as interim associate director at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS).

In her talk at UMBS, Sprunger will explore how soil carbon and free-living nematode communities shift through time after almost 30 years of regenerative agriculture management. She will demonstrate how nematodes are critical bioindicators of drought events within agroecosystems, discuss the socio-ecological aspects of regenerative agriculture, and present ways to engage farmers on climate resiliency topics.

Sprunger is a faculty member in the Department of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences at MSU and is based at KBS. She also is a member of MSU’s Plant Resilience Institute. Her research focuses on the intersection of agriculture and the environment, where she investigates how climate change impacts crop production, nutrient cycling, soil food webs, and rhizosphere dynamics. In addition, much of her work addresses how crop diversity, perenniality, and reduced tillage contribute to important ecosystem services such as soil carbon sequestration and nitrogen use efficiency. Sprunger also conducts interdisciplinary research with social scientists to understand farmer perceptions of soil health and climate adaptation.

Sprunger holds a Ph.D. in crop and soil sciences and ecology, evolutionary biology, and behavior from Michigan State University, and she received both a B.S. in forest resources and a B.A. in environmental studies from the University of Washington with a minor in human rights.

The U-M Biological Station — the largest of U-M's campuses at more than 10,000 forested acres surrounded by lakes — is one of the nation's largest and longest continuously operating field research stations.

Founded in 1909, the Biological Station supports long-term research and education. It is where students and scientists from across the globe live and work as a community to learn from the place.

The Summer Lecture Series is a tradition at UMBS, where we explore scientific topics with distinguished guest speakers from across the country so our community can learn about our natural world.

The free, public talks are on Wednesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. in the spring and summer in Gates Lecture Hall at the University of Michigan Biological Station, located at 9133 Biological Rd. in Pellston, Michigan — about 20 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge.