Jordan Cargill
Jordan joined the Zhu-Barker Lab in 2025 to pursue a Soil Science M.S. She graduated from UW-Madison in 2025 with a B.S. in Agronomy and Soil Science. Currently, her research focuses on long term changes in soil health under various management techniques in organic systems. Outside of research, she enjoys crocheting, hiking, and playing the tuba.
Gloria Ambrowiak
Gloria joined the Zhu-Barker Lab in 2025 as the lab manager and research technician. She received her BS in soil science from UW-Madison in 2012, her MS in soil science from Oregon State University in 2015, and her PhD in soil science and environmental chemistry and technology from UW-Madison in 2025. Her research interests include P cycling and soil health analysis. She also enjoys solving problems in the lab and helping students accomplish their goals. Outside of work, Gloria enjoys softball, hockey, trivia, and hanging out with her cats.
Yanyu Deng
Yanyu joined Zhu-Barker Lab in 2023 as a PhD student. He received his B.S. in Ecology from China Agricultural University and M.S. in Geography from Peking University. Currently, Yanyu’s research focuses on soil nitrogen dynamics under Climate-Smart Agriculture, and he’s interested in understanding and quantifying how climate-smart practices will regulate N cycling, especially denitrification, across soil profiles, thus finding better measures to make our life more sustainable under climate change. When not in the Research Mode, Yanyu enjoys listening/playing music, traveling, playing video games and cooking.
Josh Mirabella
Josh is in the second year of his Soil Science M.S. program. He graduated from West Virginia University in 2021 with a B.S. in Environmental, Soil, and Water Sciences. His current research utilizes stable isotope probing to assess the impacts of dairy manure on soil nitrogen dynamics, encompassing N2O emissions, crop N use efficiency, and N leaching. Outside of academia, he enjoys cooking and baking, playing tennis, and playing video/board games.
Mitch Wodrich
Mitch is in the first year of his Soil Science M.S. program. He graduated in 2020 from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Plant Biology. His current research focuses on developing best management practices for efficient fertilizer use in dairy cropping systems to reduce nutrient losses to groundwater. His interests outside of work include backpacking, cooking, and exercising.
Andrew Curtright
Andrew studies the microbial ecology of the soil, focusing on the myriad ways that soil carbon influences the nitrogen cycle. He seeks to unite biochemical mechanisms with ecological principles to explain microbial interactions in the soil. He developed these interests during his Ph.D. study at Michigan State University with Dr. Lisa Tiemann and currently pursues related questions as a postdoctoral scholar in Dr. Zhu-Barker’s research group at UC Davis. Outside of the lab, Andrew enjoys cooking, eating, and running. He has strong opinions about Star Wars.
Interns
- Yier Fan (Environmental Science)
- Boya Shi (Environmental Science)
- Ella Pattinson (Biology)
- Rowan McCann (Biochemistry)
- Patrick Marty
Lab Alumni
- Savannah Haas (PhD): Ecosystem Scientist at HydroFocus.
- Peidan Xu (Visiting scholar): PhD student at Northwest A&F University
- Claire Hudson (BS): Incoming Soil Science PhD Student at Lincoln University.
- Aaron Hutka (BS): working at Arch Environmental Group.
- Jadyn Holz (Undergraduate in Environmental Science)
- Bridget Daigneault (Undergraduate in Environmental Science)
- Finnley Weigel
