Rima Upchurch

Rima Upchurch joins Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR) as a Biogeochemistry Laboratory Analyst, working alongside an outstanding team that includes Dr. Casey Godwin, Teige O’Brien, and Riley Peterson. She brings a wealth of experience from her long-time role in Dr. Donald Zak’s lab at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, where she studied belowground microbial communities and nutrient cycling dynamics in forest ecosystems. At CIGLR, Rima focuses on analyzing nutrient turnover in the Great Lakes and supporting efforts to monitor Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs).
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Education:

• • M.S., University of Georgia, Microbiology, 2006
  • B.A., Agnes Scott College, Biology – Magna Cum Laude, 2002

Research Interest/Area of Expertise:

• • Nutrient Biogeochemical Cycling
  • Environmental Biodiversity
  • Molecular microbial ecology

Publications:

McPherson, MR, DR Zak, I Ibanez, RA Upchurch and WA Argiroff. 2024. Turnover of arbuscular mycorrhizal species along a plant productivity gradient driven by soil resources. Plant Environment Interactions, (DOI:10.1002/pei3.70002).

Argiroff, WA, DR Zak, RA Upchurch, PT Pellitier and JP Belke. 2023. Fungal community composition and genetic potential regulate fine root decay in northern temperate forests. Molecular Ecology, 32:2005-2021. (DOI:10.1111/mec.16852).

Argiroff, WA, DR Zak, PT Pellitier, RA Upchurch and JP Belke. 2022. Decay by ectomycorrhizal fungi couples soil organic matter to nitrogen availability. Ecology Letters, 25:391-404. (DOI:10.1111/ele.13923).

Pellitier, PT, DR Zak, WA Argiroff and RA Upchurch. 2021. Coupled shifts in ectomycorrhizal communities and plant uptake of organic nitrogen along a soil gradient: an isotopic perspective. Ecosystems, 24:1976-1990. (DOI:10.1007/s10021-021-00628-6).