Our Team

Kyungsoo Yoo was born and raised in South Korea. After studying physics at Yonsei University, he went to U.C. Berkeley for his doctoral research in Ecosystem Science. He once wrote about the transition. After teaching at the University of Delaware for 4.5 years, he moved to Minnesota in 2010. He is currently a professor of soil science at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Kyungsoo Yoo photo by Azucena

Kyungsoo Yoo

Azucena Sierra Garcia

Azucena is a Land and Atmospheric Science doctoral student and a Fulbright Scholar. She studies mountain indigenous coffee farming in Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico. Her goal is to become a science voice for indigenous farmers.

Nate Lund

Nate Lund

Nate is a Land and Atmospheric Science graduate student. He studies how animals, specifically earthworms, shape our soils and landscapes. In his free time, he likes to hike, cook, watch movies, and rollerblade.

Jongmin Byun

Jongmin Byun

Jongmin Byun is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography Education at Seoul National University. Jongmin is spending his sabbatical year as a visiting scholar at Yoo Lab. His primary research areas are physical geography and geomorphology. During his Ph.D., he was particularly interested in the development of numerical landscape evolution models and their application in studying neo-tectonics on the Korean Peninsula. After completing his Ph. D., he extended his research interests to include the interactions between surface processes and tectonics, utilizing terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating methods. Since joining the Department of Geography Education, he has been leading the Geomorphology and Education Lab, where he focuses on advancing our understanding of surface processes in mountain hillslopes and rivers as well as developing teaching methods and educational materials for geomorphology education, integrating the latest research findings into his pedagogy.

Rafael Alvarenga Almeida

Rafael is a Brazilian Agricultural Engineer with a Master's and Ph.D. in Water Resources. He is a professor specializing in Hydrology at the Federal University of the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys (UFVJM - Brazil). Currently, he is a visiting researcher studying erosion caused by small-scale organic agricultural farming in Minnesota's mountainous regions, evaluating best management practices and estimating their impact through modeling.

Adam Williams

Adam is a Ph.D. student in the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology program. His primary research is the transformation of lunar regolith into soils to enable off-Earth agriculture. He works as a professional engineer, and in his free time enjoys traveling and the outdoors.

Alumni

  • Sara Bauer

    MS (2024): Impacts of exotic earthworms on soil temperature within northern temperate forests through removal of litter layer

  • Tyler Baumann

    MS (2023): jumping worms’ invasion dynamics and their impacts on soils

  • Tristina Ting

    Undergraduate Researcher (2024): Space farming

  • Adrian Wackett

    MS (2020): Arctic w”o”rming: Human-facilitated earthworm invasion transforms soil organic matter budgets and pools in Fennoscandian forests.

    Adrian is currently a doctoral student in Earth Science at Stanford University.

  • Shuai Wang

    Visiting doctoral student from Nanjing Agricultural University, P.R. China. 2020-2021. Cohosted with Lee Frelich

  • Beth Weinman

    Postdoctoral Researcher (2009-2011).

    Beth is currently a faculty at the Fresno State University, California

  • Xiang Wang

    Postdoctoral Researcher (2016-2018).

    Xiang is currently a faculty at the Chinese Agricultural University, Beijing.

  • Andrea Román Sanchez

    Visiting doctoral student from the Cordoba University, Spain. 2017

  • Beth Fisher

    Ph.D. (2016) Geomorphic controls on mineral weathering, elemental transport, carbon cycling, and production of mineral surface area in a schist bedrock weathering profile, Piedmont Pennsylvania.

    Beth is currently a faculty at the Minnesota State University, Mankato.

  • Nic Jelinski

    Ph.D. (2014) Problems of physical movement in soil genesis: Application of meteoric Beryllium-10 as a component of multi-tracer analysis.

    Nic is currently a faculty at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

  • Jonatan Klaminder

    Postdoctoral Researcher (2007-2008).

    Jonatan is currently a faculty at Umea University, Sweden.

  • Kit Resner

    Ms (2013) Impacts of earthworm bioturbation on elemental cycles in soils: An application of a geochemical mass balance to an earthworm invasion chronosequence in a sugar maple forest in Northern Minnesota.

  • Amy Lyttle

    MN (2013) Carbon-mineral interactions and bioturbation: an earthworm invasion chronosequence in a sugar maple forest in Northern Minnesota.

  • Junling Ji

    MS (2009): Land use change impact on soil carbon cycling and elemental budget