Michigan State University research associate Nina Lany was named a 2015 Arnold O. Beckman postdoctoral fellow by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman foundation.
Lany’s work in the departments of Fisheries and Wildlife and Forestry centers on climate change. The grant will fund her research on the ecological effects of climate change on species interactions in food webs. She works primarily with forest insects and their host trees.
“I especially appreciate this recognition because the program supports scientists during the transition from graduate student to independent researcher. I also greatly appreciate support from my primary mentor, Phoebe Zarnetske, MSU assistant professor of forestry,” Lany said.
Richard Kobe, forestry chairperson, said Lany’s receipt of the fellowship is an honor and testament to the strength of the academic programs at MSU, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and in the Department of Forestry.
“Typically these awards have gone to postdocs in chemistry and the life sciences,” Kobe said. “The fact that this award has gone to a researcher who is studying plant community responses to changes in climate speaks volumes to the relevance of ecology and forestry in addressing some of the world’s most pressing environmental issues.”
Lany’s research will focus on jack pine forests in the Great Lakes Basin and northern hardwoods at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest.