EDUCATION:

Rutgers University, Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution; New Brunswick, NJ
             PhD received October 2020                                             

Barnard College, Columbia University; New York, NY
             Bachelor of Arts received October 2008
             Major: Environmental Science                                              

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Urban ecology and biodiversity; Soil community and soil carbon dynamics in urban agriculture; Connecting soil community patterns and plant population fluctuations with nutrient (C-N-P) cycling; Soil community dynamics that relate to plant population growth; Mycorrhizal interactions with plant populations and communities; General plant ecology and population dynamics, with a focus on graminoids and herbaceous communities.

Soil ecology, ecosystem functionality, and urban biodiversity patterns
Projects through Bryn Mawr College and the University of St. Thomas                            2023 - present

The broad goal of this research is to understand ecosystem functioning in urban settings. Through mentoring two undergraduates at Bryn Mawr College, I am studying questions related to social and ecological intersectionality using existing iNaturalist data—tackling the angle of how biodiversity changes in response to the built environment. Through working with peers in the Training Undergraduate Biologists through urban Agriculture (TUBA) network, I am integrating soil ecology into questions about how urban agriculture and community gardens influence biodiversity. I am creating specific soil protocols and collaborating on plant, insect and bird protocols that can be implemented by multiple undergraduate lab classes in 2025 with the goal of collecting rigorous data on a national scale. We aim to address how underlying factors like soil organic matter and nutrient content, distance to tree canopy, and percent impervious surface surrounding the plots are correlated with biodiversity. These basic data are not available on such a wide scale with multiple trophic groups included. Once we have this dataset, we can then ask more questions about how human activities regulate nutrient cycling and ecological interactions.

Impact of fertilizer on the soil community of biofuel switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)                      
PhD Dissertation            2012- 2020

Test the hypothesis that the soil community differs between fertilized and unfertilized switchgrass plots; Use field samples collected at an established switchgrass research plot to capture changes in real-life conditions; Manipulate soil community and nitrogen additions in greenhouse studies to measure direct impact of soil community (mycorrhizae and fungal-feeding nematodes) on plant growth; See how applications of nitrogen and commercial mycorrhizal inoculum to switchgrass growing in three different soil types affects plant growth.

Do edaphic conditions and mycorrhizal communities relate to Rhynchospora knieskernii population dynamics?         2015-2019

Test the hypothesis that soil nutrients and other edaphic conditions relate to the mycorrhizal colonization and population success of the rare sedge R. knieskernii; Determine the mycorrhizal colonization of other common plants that thrive in the same habitat; Analyze mycorrhizal communities using spore morphology and Illumina sequencing; Annually monitor R. knieskernii population dynamics.

AWARDS
Participant in the TUBA Boston meeting, March 2023. Funded for $1,000 towards travel costs.
Tri-Co Grant for engaging students with Philadelphia, 2022-2023, Bryn Mawr College ($1,000)
Ralph Good Award for Pinelands Research, 2017, Rutgers University ($5,000)
Philadelphia Botanical Club Member Award 2017 ($1,040)
Washington Biologists Field Club Research Grant 2017 ($2,000)
Garden Club of America Mary T. Carothers Summer Environmental Studies award 2017 ($3,000)
Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (sponsored by NSF) Fellow 2012-2016
               $30,000 yearly stipend plus money to travel to one national conference
Rutgers TA/GA professional development fund 2017, 2016, and 2015
               $925, $200, and $1,717
Recipient of the Hucheson Memorial Forest Research Grant, 2013, Rutgers University ($1,000)
Received awards for conference travel through Rutgers University 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017 ($150, $250, $250, $200)

EXPERIENCE

Visiting Assistant Professor (full-time position)
Bryn Mawr College                                                                   08/2022-present             Bryn Mawr, PA

Taught BIOL 111 Biological Exploration II, BIOL 220 Ecology, BIOL 225 Biology and Ecology of Plants, BIOL 238 Ethics in Biology, BIOL 262 Urban Ecosystems, BIOL 398 Senior Seminar: Climate Change, and EMLY 001 Emily Balch Seminar. Mentored two POSSE student undergraduate researchers. Contributed to the department and campus community. Designed new class (Ethics in Biology) that met the standards for a new distributional requirement of the Bryn Mawr degree, “Power, inequity and justice.”

Postdoctoral Researcher, multiple part-time positions

Research adjunct professor, Temple University                        05/2023 – present         
Philadelphia, PA

Contributed to the I-95 green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) project. Coordinated with multiple professors at Temple University to address questions of how GSI site design relates to plant health. Designed and implemented sampling protocol for plants and soil impacted by stormwater outflow to analyze how deicing salt impacts plant health in the GSI basin for plants planted prior to the 2023 growing season.

TUBA steering committee, University of St. Thomas               12/2023 – present         
Remote position

Contributed to organizing meetings of peers in the TUBA network (Training Undergraduate Biologists through Urban agriculture) to brainstorm, coordinate, and plan protocols to test in summer and fall 2024. Designed and strategized the research questions that can be answered with the type of data TUBA aims to collect in undergraduate laboratory settings.

 Adjunct Professor, multiple part-time positions
Taught lecture, lab and combined courses in a variety of settings; online-only, hybrid in-person and online, flipped classroom, and with heavy focus on active learning.

Hort 2114: Soils lab and lecture         
Temple University, Ambler Campus                                01/2019 - 06/2023  Ambler, PA

Envi. Sci. 105 (lecture for non-majors); Biology 165L: Exploring the living world & Envi. Sci. 106L: Exploring the Earth (lab for non-majors)
St. Joseph’s University                                                    08/2021 - 06/2023  Philadelphia, PA

General Biology 103: lecture and General Biology 104: lecture
Thomas Jefferson University                                           08/2020 - 06/2022  Philadelphia, PA

SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES
Coordinated a short course titled “Creating an Anticolonial, Antiracist, Feminist Lab” at the 2024 ESA meeting in Long Beach, CA (course was officially accepted as part of the August ESA program 2/29/24)
Presented four teach-ins relating to topics of racism, Bryn Mawr College (2022 - 2024)
Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance (PADA) diversity, equity, and inclusion committee (2022 - 2024)
Participant in The Dialogue Project, Bryn Mawr College (Fall 2022)
Invited as the Environmental Science Seminar speaker, St. Joseph’s University (February 9, 2022)
Girls Ultimate Movement (GUM) outreach coordinator for Philadelphia (2021 - 2023)
Mentored undergraduates working at the Pinelands Field Station (2013-2018)
Guest lecturer in Field Ecology at the Pinelands Field Station, June 2017
Plant expert and team leader at Woodbridge Bioblitz, June 2-3, 2017
Race Director of Run for the Woods fundraiser for local ecological restoration (2012-2017)
Volunteer at Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in the Herbarium and Science Now! programs (2014-2015)
Guest lecturer in International Agriculture undergraduate class; cellulosic biofuel crops (2013-2014)
Organizer of Ecology and Evolution Graduate Student Association Data Club (2013-2015)
Member of IGERT Student Advisory Board (2013-2014)
Treasurer of Ecology and Evolution Graduate Student Association (2012-2014)

Published Papers

  1. Baumgarten, J. 2020. Soil community shifts, plant-soil feedbacks, and impact of nitrogen fertilization in potential biofuel crop Panicum virgatum. PhD Thesis, Rutgers University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

  2. Caplan JS, Stone BWG, Faillace CA, Lafond JJ, Baumgarten J, Mozdzer TJ, Dighton J, Meiners S, Grabosky JC, Ehrenfeld JG. 2017. Nutrient foraging strategies are associated with productivity and population growth in forest shrubs. Annals of Botany. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcw271

  3. Kenna, T. C., Nitsche, F. O., Herron, M. M., Mailloux, B. J., Peteet, D., Sritrairat, S., Sands, E., and Baumgarten, J., 2010. Evaluation and calibration of a field portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer for quantitative analysis of siliciclastic soils and sediments. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry DOI: 10.1039/C0JA00133C.

Textbooks and other educational resources

1.     Baumgarten, J. 2023. Environmental Biology. Open Oregon Educational Resources. https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/nonmajorsenvirobiology/

Oral and Poster Presentations (selected)

1.      Baumgarten, J., & T Mozdzer. (Talk submitted for 2024, August). Decomposition, soil shear strength, and carbon storage of Phragmites australis in an urban wetland. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA.

2.      Kay, A., E. Chapman, M. Burr, R. Warthen, J. Baumgarten, & D.E. Soto. (Poster submitted for 2024, August). Urban agriculture modules and collaborative projects to enhance and connect undergraduate biology education. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA.

3.      Baumgarten, J., B. Stone, S. Eisenman, & J. Caplan. (Talk submitted for 2024, May). Interactions of soil moisture and salinity on soil microbial community and plant health in an urban green stormwater infrastructure basin. Soil Ecology Society Biennial Meeting, Grand Rapids, MI.

4.      Iralien, M., S. Lhanyitsang, & J. Baumgarten. (Poster submitted for 2024, April). Correlating social factors and species biodiversity within a historically redlined part of Philadelphia. Mid-Atlantic Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Kutztown, PA.

5.      Baumgarten, J., & J. Dighton. (2017, August). Soil community response to edaphic manipulations in three different soils grown with biofuel switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Talk presented at the 2017 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Portland, OR.

6.      Baumgarten, J., & J. Dighton. (2017, June). Edaphic manipulation of the soil community of biofuel switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) in three soils. Talk presented at the 2017 Ecology of Soil Health Summit and Soil Ecology Society Meeting, Fort Collins, CO.

7.      Baumgarten, J., & J. Dighton. (2016, November). How do fertilizer additions change the soil biology of biofuel switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)? Talk presented at the 2016 ASA, CSSA, & SSSA International Annual Meetings in Phoenix, AZ.

8.      Baumgarten, J., Cunnick, H. & Palmer, M. I. (2016, April). Population dynamics of the rare sedge Rhynchospora knieskernii. Talk presented at the 2016 Mid-Atlantic Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Kutztown, PA.

9.       Johnson, J., Bushta, J., Baumgarten, J. & Dighton, J. (2016, April). How do plant-soil interactions affect the biomass of the biofuel crop Panicum virgatum? Poster presented at the 2016 Mid-Atlantic Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Kutztown, PA.

10.    Baumgarten, J. & Howe, N. (2016, March). Conservation and non-native plants: Is the non-native Teesdalia nudicaulis negatively affecting local Pine Barrens plant communities? Poster presented at the 20th Annual NJ Land Conservation Rally, Trenton, NJ.

White Papers (selected)

  1. Baumgarten, J., 2022. Rhychospora knieskernii 2017 annual report. New Jersey DEP.

  2. Howe, N., Baumgarten, J., 2015. Caroline Thorn Kissel Summer Environmental Studies Scholarship Report: Can lichens protect against Teesdalia nudicaulis invasions and their after-effects. Garden Club of America.