Declan Clark

Graduate (M.S), Systems Ecology Program,​

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Declan is a gradute here at UM who was raised in Arvada, Colorado. His research interests are in soil science, terrestrial ecology, and environmental microbiology. He hopes to find a career as an environmental scientist, where he can use his knowledge to improve and sustain environmental quality for people, plants, and wildlife.

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Project: Effects of shortened fire return intervals on soil carbon dynamics in western Montana subalpine lodgepole pine forests. Declan was originally supported by a full-time summer internship (2025) through the Montana Space Grant Consortium (NASA) on the Short-Interval Fire Project (ShIFT). His work included both field and laboratory research assessing how shortened fire return intervals influence ectomycorrhizal fungi–lodgepole pine seedling root associations and quantifying soil carbon respiration fluxes across the same sites. Declan is continuing his work for his masters thesis in partnership with Ash Ballyantyne's Lab here at UM.

Cadyn (Cady) Pitner

Undergraduate, Environmental Science and Sustainability Major

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Cadyn is an undergraduate student in the Environmental Science and Sustainability program at the University of Montana, originally from Vermont. Her early experiences exploring and working in Vermont’s forests and landscapes sparked her interest in ecology, conservation, and the relationship between people and natural systems. Through hands-on experiences in field-based conservation, forestry, and ecological restoration, she developed a passion for understanding ecosystems and the role of science in guiding land management decisions.

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Her research interests include fire ecology, forest management, and soil carbon dynamics. She is currently researching how short-interval wildfires influence soil carbon stability in subalpine conifer forests. Cadyn hopes to pursue a career that integrates interdisciplinary science, education, and applied natural resource management to better understand and support resilient landscapes.

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​Project: Effects of shortened fire return intervals on soil organic matter cycling. Cady is supported through a summer-long research apprenticeship (2026) funded by the Montana Space Grant Consortium (NASA). Her work focuses on how changing fire regimes in subalpine conifer forests are impacting soil organic matter cycling, in particular the PAOM and MAOM pools of OM-C.

Sophie Konerza

Undergraduate, Environmental Science and Sustainability Major

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Sophie is from northeast Houston. Her research interests are focused on improving the soil's ability to store carbon and how agriculture contributes to this process. She is interested in a career centered in the outdoors, potentially working with public lands or with sustainability in agriculture. Her favorite class so far at UM has been Energy and Climate.

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Project:  Biochar and worm casting amendments and their effects on soil nutrient availability.
Sophie is completing a semester-long internship with Soil Cycle, a local non-profit focused on diverting food scraps and organic waste from landfills. Her proposed research will evaluate the efficacy of compost products—specifically worm castings and biochar—on soil nutrient availability and plant growth. She is currently pursuing funding for this project through the University of Montana Experiential Learning Scholarship Fund and planning a plant–soil feedback greenhouse experiment for this fall and winter.