
Dr. Samiran Banerjee
Dr. Samiran Banerjee
Principal Investigator
I completed my MSc in Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Aberdeen in the UK. Later I obtained my PhD in Soil Science from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. After a brief postdoc at the University of Alberta, I received the OCE Postdoctoral Fellowship to do my postdoc at CSIRO, Australia. I then went to Switzerland to work as a postdoc and project leader at Agroscope, Zurich. I joined North Dakota State University as an assistant professor in September 2019. When free, I enjoy bike riding and fishing with my son.

Carlee Schroeter
Carlee Schroeter
Research Specialist
I completed my bachelors in microbiology in 2021 at North Dakota State University and, during my undergrad, did work with plant pathogens and soil microbiome. Near the end of my undergrad, I decided to shift my focus away from agricultural microbiology and more on human disease. I surveyed wastewater to measure the presence of Covid-19 during the pandemic in which we were able to use that data to track spikes in infection, along with viral mutations, within the ND community. This is where I learned various molecular microbiological techniques and I became fascinated with the molecular level of microbial research.

Lennel Camuy-Velez
Lennel Camuy-Velez
Graduate Student (co-supervised with Prof. Kevin Sedivec)
I am from the island of Puerto Rico where I completed my B.S. in Microbiology with an emphasis on Environmental Microbiology. During my undergraduate, I worked with the microbiota of blue crabs and their possibility of heavy metal resistance. While working in Costa Rica as part of NSF-LSAMP REU, I realized that I want to continue research. I completed my M.S. in Microbiology at the Ohio State University where I was working on gut microbes in insects . In the Ag Microbiome Lab, I will be working on the role of microbes in plant invasion.

Debarshi Dasgupta
Debarshi Dasgupta
Graduate Student
Hello! I am Debarshi from India. I pursued my B.Sc. in Agriculture from Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya and M.Sc. in Agricultural Microbiology from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru. I worked as a junior research fellow in a forest ecology project at Indian Institute of Science. Then I joined Indian Agricultural Research Institute as a senior research fellow in soil science and agricultural chemistry. I have also worked in GIZ-GmbH in an agroecology project. At NDSU, I am interested to explore how human land-use changes influence biogeochemical processes and plant-soil-microbial interactions. In my spare time I indulge in music, movies and reading books.

Kivi Snavely
Kivi Snavely
Graduate Student
Hi, I’m Kivi and I love plants (and microbes)! Growing up in the forests of the East Coast, I was predisposed to nature – completing my undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. During my time there, I studied the microbiome of industrial hemp plants, investigating how male and female hemp recruit different rhizosphere bacteria across life stage and cultivar. This research piqued my interest in bioinformatic and statistical methods for studying microbial interactions, which I am now working on as a graduate student at NDSU. In my free time, I love to cook, hike, and play video games.

Ditam Chakraborty
Ditam Chakraborty
Graduate Student
Hey, I’m Ditam. I’m from the city of Kolkata in India, where I completed my BSc in Biochemistry in 2018 from University of Calcutta, and did a Master’s degree in Biotechnology at Jadavpur University. During my Master’s and a one-year stint afterwards when I was working as a Junior Research Fellow at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), I became intrigued by how different microorganisms can function together as a community and how to manipulate them. At NDSU, I’m working on identifying and empirically validating keystone taxa from soil microbial community using novel biotechnological approaches. In my spare time, I love to do cooking and traveling.

Purbasa Kole
Purbasa Kole
PhD in Microbiology (NDSU)
Hello! I’m Purbasa from India. I hold a B.Sc. in Agriculture from Bidhan Chandra Krishi
Viswavidyala and a masters in Soil Science from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. During my masters, I studied how various cropping systems regulate soil carbon and nitrogen pools, along with influencing the soil biological activity. My fascination with how the tiny soil microbes significantly impact soil health and productivity has led me to pursue a PhD in Microbiology at NDSU. My research in Dr. Banerjee's lab will focus on culturomics, aiming to isolate beneficial microbes nd examine their contribution to soil health preservation. In my free time, I enjoy ooking, watching movies and exploring new places with friends.
Our Lab Alumni
1. Debdutta Nath 2. Cecelia Castleberry 3. Sakshi Paudel
4. Rylie Elvers 5. Miranda Vanderhyde