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Dr. Lauren Schmitt Dorothy & Thomas Jegla Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies [email protected] I use community and ecosystem ecology methods to answer questions about plants, insects, their interactions and ecosystem processes. |
Are you interested in joining the lab?
Students can earn credit through ENVS 385 and BIO 385 research courses or join for the summer through Kenyon Summer Science, Sustainability Scholars and Kenyon Farm Fellows program. Reach out to Prof. Schmitt ([email protected]) for more information!
Students can earn credit through ENVS 385 and BIO 385 research courses or join for the summer through Kenyon Summer Science, Sustainability Scholars and Kenyon Farm Fellows program. Reach out to Prof. Schmitt ([email protected]) for more information!
Undergraduate researchers
Hedi Madhu '27
Hedi joined the apple research project in the summer of 2026. She is investigating the role of edge type on insect dynamics.
Moth Hoffman '28
Moth has focused on the role of seasonality in shaping insect communities in apple orchards.
Lauren Klein '28
Lauren completed an independent research project on the changing phenology of flowering plants using a 25 year dataset from Blacklick Woods Metro Park.
Olivia Wangerow '28
Olivia's research focuses on the role of floral resources in supporting pest and beneficial insects in apple orchards. Olivia joined the lab in 2026 and was a 2026 ENVS Sustainability Scholar.
Miles Ford '29
Miles is investigating the impact of microplastic breakdown in agriculture, including their impact on plant growth and insects. Miles joined the lab group in the summer of 2026 as the Kenyon Farm Fellow.
Hedi Madhu '27
Hedi joined the apple research project in the summer of 2026. She is investigating the role of edge type on insect dynamics.
Moth Hoffman '28
Moth has focused on the role of seasonality in shaping insect communities in apple orchards.
Lauren Klein '28
Lauren completed an independent research project on the changing phenology of flowering plants using a 25 year dataset from Blacklick Woods Metro Park.
Olivia Wangerow '28
Olivia's research focuses on the role of floral resources in supporting pest and beneficial insects in apple orchards. Olivia joined the lab in 2026 and was a 2026 ENVS Sustainability Scholar.
Miles Ford '29
Miles is investigating the impact of microplastic breakdown in agriculture, including their impact on plant growth and insects. Miles joined the lab group in the summer of 2026 as the Kenyon Farm Fellow.
Lab alumni
Noah Dean '26
Noah is investigating the impacts of neighboring land use and edge effects on insect community dynamics in central Ohio apple orchards. He joined the lab as a Sustainability Scholar in the summer of 2025.
Harrison Solomon '26
Harrison joined the lab in 2024. As a Kenyon Farm Fellow in 2024 and Summer Science Scholar in 2025, Harrison has combined field work and laboratory feeding and preference trials to understand the interactions between insect predators (green lacewing larvae) and pests (cabbage loopers). Harrison presented his reseach on pest dynamics at the Ecological Society of America meeting in Baltimore, MD!
Catelin Bromfield '26
Catelin joined the lab in 2025 to work on the green burial project, focusing on insect community changes across seasons and sites.
Grant Gerhardt '25
Grant was an Environmental Studies and French major. He worked in the lab as a Sustainability Scholar in the summer of 2024. Grant worked at the Kokosing Nature Preserve, Brown Family Environmental Center and Quarry Chapel cemetery to investigate successional processes in an green cemetery.
Megan Lydon '25
Megan was a Biology major. She carried out research on soil arthropods in 2024.
Noah Dean '26
Noah is investigating the impacts of neighboring land use and edge effects on insect community dynamics in central Ohio apple orchards. He joined the lab as a Sustainability Scholar in the summer of 2025.
Harrison Solomon '26
Harrison joined the lab in 2024. As a Kenyon Farm Fellow in 2024 and Summer Science Scholar in 2025, Harrison has combined field work and laboratory feeding and preference trials to understand the interactions between insect predators (green lacewing larvae) and pests (cabbage loopers). Harrison presented his reseach on pest dynamics at the Ecological Society of America meeting in Baltimore, MD!
Catelin Bromfield '26
Catelin joined the lab in 2025 to work on the green burial project, focusing on insect community changes across seasons and sites.
Grant Gerhardt '25
Grant was an Environmental Studies and French major. He worked in the lab as a Sustainability Scholar in the summer of 2024. Grant worked at the Kokosing Nature Preserve, Brown Family Environmental Center and Quarry Chapel cemetery to investigate successional processes in an green cemetery.
Megan Lydon '25
Megan was a Biology major. She carried out research on soil arthropods in 2024.