Ashley A. Wojciechowski

Ashley A. Wojciechowski
  • Ph.D. Candidate
  • Liberal Arts and Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
She/Her/Hers

Contact Info

Smissman Research Laboratory Room# B51B
Lawrence
2099 Constant Ave.
Lawrence, KS 66047

Biography —

I am from a northwestern suburb of Chicago where I completed my undergraduate degree at a small liberal arts college called North Central college. This is where I became passionate about plants, soil, and prairies. As a graduate student at KU, I am able to study at Konza Prairie where I investigate plant community and nutrient dynamics under varying levels of environmental heterogeneity, soil moisture/depth and nutrient availability in a long-term restored prairie. I also enjoy being active in the KU EEB Graduate Student Organization and I co-manage the KU Community Garden where we donate grown produce to local food pantries.

Education —

B.S. in Biology, North Central College, 2019, Naperville, IL, USA
CUM LAUDE HONORS

Research —

At KU in the Baer lab, I investigate how environmental heterogeneity and resource availability affect plant species composition and ecosystem functioning. I also am interested in how reduced precipitation and nutrient availability affect plant community diversity, phenology, and aboveground productivity in restored grassland.

Research interests:

  • Soil Ecology
  • Plant-Soil-Microbe Interactions
  • Nutrient Dynamics
  • Prairie Restoration and Conservation

Selected Presentations —

Wojciechowski, A.A., Blair, J.M., Collins, S.L., and S.G. Baer. “Heterogeneity begets heterogeneity: Increasing soil heterogeneity increases plant diversity and richness”. 2021. Ecological Society of America. Online, Originally Scheduled at Long Beach, CA.

Wojciechowski, A.A., and S.G Baer.“Plant diversity and aboveground productivity response to long-term nutrient availability and first year-imposed drought in restored prairie”. 2021. Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference. Online, Originally Scheduled at DeKalb, IL.

Wojciechowski, A.A., Blair, J.M., Collins, S.L., and S.G. Baer. “Environmental heterogeneity increases resilience of a restored grassland to interannual variability in precipitation”. 2020. Ecological Society of America. Online, Originally Scheduled at Salt Lake City, UT.

Awards & Honors —

3rd Place in the ESA Ecology Restoration Section Student Poster Contest (2020).

Memberships —

Soil Ecology Society, 2020-present

Ecology of Society of America, 2019-present

Kansas Native Plant Society, 2019-present

KU EEB Graduate Student Organization, 2019-present

KU Community Garden, 2019-present