Meredith Steele has been appointed assistant professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech

Steele is one of 19 new faculty members that were recently hired in the university's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. New positions in the college were identified to bring new talent to its focus areas, including food and health, infectious disease, biodesign and processing, and agricultural profitability and environmental sustainability. The new faculty members are distributed across teaching, research, and Extension.

She received two bachelor's degrees, one in environmental science and one in agriculture and natural resource economics, and a master's degree in soil science from the University of Maryland. She earned a Ph.D. in soil science from Texas A&M University. 

Steele is interested in why and how development affects land and water at broad scales and the resulting environmental consequences. Her research program goal is to understand developed landscapes and the ecosystems services they provide to society by focusing on the water and soil components of socioecological systems. 

Her lab’s mission is to conduct research relevant to topical environmental challenges and further scientific understanding in the areas of water quality and quantity, ecosystem services, urbanizing landscapes, and biogeochemical cycling.

She served as a postdoctoral associate at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University prior to her appointment at Virginia Tech.

 

 

Written by Amy Loeffler.

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