Food, Farm & FieldFaculty and Staff

Sherie Edenborn Ph.D.

sedenborn@chatham.edu
Assistant Professor of Biology

Hometown : Sheffield, PA
Joined Chatham : 2008

Academic Areas of Interest

Organic and Sustainable Agriculture; Environmental/Soil Microbiology; Soil Food Webs.

Personal Areas of Interest

Hiking, Biking, Photography, Painting, Gardening, Theater, Folk/Alternative Music, Enjoying Local and Sustainable Food, Keeping Bees.

Biography

I was born and raised in northwestern Pennsylvania in the small town of Sheffield. I have a diverse background in both environmental science/ecology and allied health. For the past 15 years I have taught microbiology to nursing students. I also have worked as a medical technologist at Jefferson Hospital in Pittsburgh and an environmental microbiologist for the U.S. Bureau of Mines. During my tenure with the Bureau of Mines, my research was focused on the use of constructed wetland to treat acid mine drainage. Prior to joining the faculty at Chatham, I was an assistant professor of biology at West Virginia Wesleyan College. My research is in the general area of environmental microbiology. My dissertation work focused on evaluation of the impact of agronomic and anthropogenic disturbances on the diversity and dynamics of microbial communities in soils from organic farms and upland pastures. I am very interested in sustainable agriculture, especially the role of microorganisms in establishing and maintaining soil quality. Currently, I am conducting research focused on the use of biochar in green roofs and urban gardens. I also am co-founder of the Chatham apiary with Dr. Gary Marshall and Kerri LaCharite.

Education

• Ph.D., West Virginia University, 2007
• M.S., Biology, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, 1990
• B.S. Biology (summa cum laude) & Medical Technology, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, 1987 & 1997

Publications

• Relationships among contrasting measurements of microbial dynamics in pasture and organic farm soils. (2011). Applied and Environmental Soil Science. In Press. Edenborn, S.L., Sexstone, A.J., Sutanto, Y., Chapman, J.
• DGGE fingerprinting of culturable soil bacterial communities complements culture-independent analyses. (2007). Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 39 (7):1570–1579. Edenborn, S.L. and Sexstone, A.J
• Bacterial preferences of the bacterivorous soil nematode Cephalobus brevicauda (Cephalobidae): effect of bacterial type and size. (2007). Pedobiologia. 50 (1): 55–64. Salinas, K.A., Edenborn, S.L., Sexstone, A.J., Kotcon, J.B.
• Microbial diversity in soil: A microscopic world under every footstep. 2006. In: McKinstry, R.B., Ripp, C. and Lisy, E. (Eds.) Biodiversity Conservation Handbook: State, Local, and Private Protection of Biological Diversity, Environmental Law Institute Press, Washington, DC. Pp. 159–173. Edenborn, H.M. and Edenborn, S.L.
• Monitoring iron and manganese diagenesis in constructed wetlands with continuous gradient gels. 1993. Biohydrometallurgical Technologies 1:631–639. Edenborn, H.M., Brickett, L.A., Dvorak, D.H. and Edenborn, S.L.
• Treatment of metal-contaminated water using bacterial sulfate reduction: results from pilot-scale reactors. 1991. International Conference on the Abatement of Acidic Drainage. Montreal, Canada, pp.301–314. Dvorak, D.H., Hedin, R.S., Gustafson (Edenborn), S.L. and Edenborn. H.M.

Certifications

• Medical Technology - American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP)

Awards

• Gamma Sigma Delta, Honor Society of Agriculture (2007)
• Provost Fellowship, Kent State University (1992)
• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania University Biologists Outstanding Student Award (1987)
• Penn State University Student Travel Award to Symposium in Plant Physiology (1987)
• Beta Beta Beta National Biological Honor Society (1986)
• Phi Eta Sigma Freshman Honor Society (1984)

Organizations

• American Society of Agronomy
• Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture

Achievements

• Grant: West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR) Instrumentation Grant, “Real-time Graphing and Analysis Modules to Promote Inquiry-based Learning in Physiology and Environmental Science Classes,” $19,721, December, 2007.

Presentations

• Edenborn, H.M., E. Klunder, M. Keller, D.Luebke, and S. L. Edenborn (2009). Preliminary Evaluation of Coal- and Biomass-Derived Chars as Beneficial Soil Amendments. 2009 International Annual Meeting of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA: Footprints in the Landscape: Sustainability through Plant and Soil Science, Nov. 1-5, Pittsburgh, PA.
• "Life + Dirt = Soil: Linking Microbial Biodiversity to Soil Structure and Function," University of Pittsburgh Colloquium Series in Geology and Planetary Science, March 18, 2010.
• Edenborn, H.M., D.J. Vesper, and S.L. Edenborn (2009). Detection of Lead Mobilization From Soil at An Abandoned Sulfuric Acid Recycling Plant Using Rock Phosphate-Immobilized Gel Beads. 2009 International Annual Meeting of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA: Footprints in the Landscape: Sustainability through Plant and Soil Science, Nov. 1-5, Pittsburgh, PA.
• Edenborn, S.L. Y. Sutanto, J.A. Chapman, and A.J. Sexstone (2009). DGGE Fingerprinting of Cultivable Bacteria as a Potentially Valuable Indicator of Soil Perturbation. 2009 International Annual Meeting of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA: Footprints in the Landscape: Sustainability through Plant and Soil Science, Nov. 1-5, Pittsburgh, PA.
• Teter, M.A., S.L. Edenborn, H.M. Edenborn, and S.K. Owen. (2008). Nutritional similarities between mannitol salt negative bacteria isolated from the nasopharyngeal cavities of college athletes. Abstract # , 108st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Edenborn, S.L. and A.J. Sexstone. (2006). Characterization of soil bacterial communities on culture plates using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of the 16S rRNA gene. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Indianapolis, Indiana.
• Chapman, J.A., S.L. Edenborn and A.J. Sexstone. (2006). Modification of bacterial communities in a pasture soil by the feeding activity of earthworms. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Indianapolis, Indiana.
• Edenborn, H.M., S.L. Edenborn, B. Ji, J.H. Doherty, and B. B. Casper. (2005). Observations on the relationships between bacteria and grasses at Eastern serpentine barrens and Midwestern prairie sites. Annual meeting of the Allegheny Branch of American Society for Microbiologists, Clearfield, PA.
• Friedland, J.M., S.L. Edenborn, and A.J. Sexstone. (2004). Diversity of microbial populations within a constructed wetland treating wastewater. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Seattle, Washington
• Edenborn, S.L., Y. Sutanto, J. Chapman, and A.J. Sexstone. (2004). Culture-dependent assessment of bacterial diversity in northern West Virginia soils. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Seattle, Washington.
• Salinas, K.A., J.B. Kotcon, and S. L. Edenborn. (2003). The effects of a bacterial biological control agent on taxis of Clarkus papillatus in a laboratory bioassay. Annual Meeting of the Society of Nematologist, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
• Edenborn, H.M., L.A. Brickett, D.H. Dvorak, and S.L. Edenborn. (1993). Monitoring manganese diagenesis in constructed wetlands with continuous gradient gels. International Biohydrometallurgy Symposium, Jackson Hole, WY.
• Edenborn, H.M., L.A. Brickett, D.H. Dvorak, and S.L. Edenborn. (1992). Monitoring manganese diagenesis in a constructed wetland using continuous gradient gels. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. Cincinnati, OH. (Received best poster award).
• Gustafson (Edenborn), S.L., R.S. Hedin and H.M. Edenborn. (1991). Rates of iron and manganese removal in waters from wetlands receiving acid mine drainage: The role of indigenous microorganisms. Gordon Research Conference in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH.
• Gustafson (Edenborn), S.L. and S.A. Jatkar. (1991). Algal taxonomy of coal mine drainage sites and correlation with drainage chemistry. Abstract # 141. The Fourth International Phycological Congress, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
• Gustafson (Edenborn), S.L., and H.M. Edenborn. (1991). Biological removal of manganese in acid mine drainage by a mixed algal-bacterial community. Abstract # 54, 91st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Dallas, Texas.
• Gustafson (Edenborn), S.L., R.S. Hedin, R.W. Nairn and H.M. Edenborn. (1991).The importance of bacterial-iron oxidation and sulfate reduction in wetlands constructed to treat acid mine crainage. Symposium on the Biogeochemistry of Wetlands, Center for Wetland Resources, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
• Edenborn, H.M., D.H. Dvorak, R.S. Hedin, and S.L. Gustafson (Edenborn). (1990). Treatment of metal-contaminated water via bacterial sulfate reduction in wetlands and pilot-scale reactors. National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Program, Breckenridge, CO.