About Us

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

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

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

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.

Miranda Vanderhyde

Graduate Student

I am from White Bear Lake, Minnesota. I completed my bachelors in 2022 at North Dakota State University in Microbiology and decided to stick around for a couple more years with the goal of getting a masters! During my undergraduate experience I unexpectedly found a love for teaching and learning new teaching techniques. I also have an interest in studying how different agricultural practices indirectly impact beneficial organisms. My master’s project is studying how pesticides impact the soil microbiome over time. Outside of school I am on the FM Roller Derby and NDSU Women’s Rugby teams, in my opinion they are the best stress relief and supportive communities I have ever been a part of! I am also the proud creator of the famous Meme Wall™ in Dr. Banerjee’s lab.

Rylie Elvers

Graduate Student

Hi, my name is Rylie. I grew up in the country near the village of Rudolph, WI. Growing up in the country exposed me from an early age to agriculture and conservation. That interest in agriculture led me to pursue my Bachelor’s Degree at North Dakota State University in Microbiology from Fall 2018 to Spring 2022. During my undergraduate program, I was fortunate to work as an undergraduate research assistant where my appreciation grew for the complexity of microbial communities, specifically in the soil microbiome. After receiving my Bachelor’s Degree, I decided to stay at NDSU to continue to study the interactions between microbes within the soil microbiome, particularly studying keystone taxa under abiotic stresses such as salinity. When I’m not in the lab, I love to travel, hike, read and hang with friends and family.

Alan Snavely

Graduate Student

Hi, I’m Alan 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

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.