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Alison Bressler
Resource Ecology Management (REM)
asbressl@umich.edu
Entering Year
2016
Alison is a 6th year PhD candidate studying agroecology in Dr. Jennifer Blesh's lab in SEAS. Alison’s dissertation research focuses on the impact of cover crop mixture litter chemistry on soil N retention and losses on working grain farms in Michigan. She also uses a coupled human and natural systems framework to study farmer adaptation strategies to overcoming constraints to cover crop adoption in the Midwest. Alison also works with Dr. Micheala Zint (SEAS) on MOOC co-design and evaluation in the context of climate change education. Alison has completed UM's Graduate Teacher Certificate and has served as a graduate student instructor for Introductory Environmental Science and Introductory Geology in the Earth department and Ecology 509 in SEAS. Before joining the Blesh Lab in 2016, Alison completed her Master’s at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (Syracuse, NY), where she studied ecosystem services of commercial short-rotation shrub willow biomass. Alison also studied nutrient cycling in suburban rain gardens while working on her B.S. in Earth and Environmental Science and Political Science from Furman University (Greenville, SC).
Education
MS, State University of New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), 2016
BS, Furman University (earth and environmental sciences, political science), 2014
Committee Chair/Advisor
Specialization
Research
In Press:
Bressler, A., Plumhoff, M., Hoey, L., Blesh., J. Cover Crop Champions: Linking strategic communication approaches with farmer networks to support cover crop adoption. In Press at Society and Natural Resources.
In Review:
Bressler, A., R Quintana, and M. Zint. Co-design of a Massive Open Online Course: Motives and Motive Fulfillment of Faculty and Students. In Review at Journal of Computing in Higher Education.
Peer Reviewed:
Bressler, Alison S., P.G. Vidon, P.D. Hirsch, and T.A. Volk. 2017. Valuation of Ecosystem Services of Commercial Shrub Willow (Salix spp) Woody Biomass Crops. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. Vol 189. No 4.
Bressler, Alison S., P.G. Vidon, and T.A. Volk. 2017. Impact of Shrub Willow (Salix spp) As a Potential Bioenergy Feedstock on Water Quality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. Vol 228. No 170.
Smith, E.S., and A. S. Bressler. 2013. Who Taught You to Talk Like That? The University and Civil Political Discourse: Journal of Political Science Education. Vol 9. No 4
Recent Conference Presentations:
Bressler, A., Plumhoff, M., Hoey, L., Blesh., J. 2020. Cover Crop Champions: farmer-farmer messaging about cover cropping in the U.S. Midwest. MUSE Across Michigan (Great Lakes). Michigan University-Wide Sustainability and Environment Conference 2020. Feb 20-22. Ann Arbor, MI.
Bressler, A., Blesh, J., 2019. Managing cover crop mixtures to reduce soil N2O flux while maintaining crop nitrogen assimilation. COS 84: Agriculture 1. 2019 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Aug 11-16. Louisville, KY.