Dr. J Meg Steinweg
Associate Professor
Degrees
- PhD, Colorado State University
- MS, Colorado State University
- BS, Appalachian State University
Research & Teaching Interests
- TEACHING INTERESTS:
- My teaching is focused on student growth and the application of knowledge and skills to real world concerns. The classroom is a place for students to try out new ideas through experiments, discussion, and projects with large, real-world data sets.
- RESEARCH INTERESTS:
- Microorganisms run the world, and I’m just trying to figure out how they do it! There are two distinct areas of research.
- First, in my research lab we are interested in better understanding the response of microbial physiology to human-induced events and how that may alter nutrient cycling in different ecosystems. We use a variety of techniques such as enzyme activity, carbon utilization profiles, carbon utilization efficiency and modeling to better understand changes to physiology in different disturbances.
- Second, my lab focuses on the abundance and diversity of ticks and tick-borne diseases in southwest Virginia. We are particularly interested in tick emergence and distribution patterns throughout the year. Additionally, we focus on alpha-gal and the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme.
Publications
- Rahmoeller M. and Steinweg J.M. (2022). An assessment of a quantitative methods course requirement for biology majors. Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies.
- Anderson L.J, Dosch J.J., Linquist E.S, McCay T.S., Machado J., Kuers K., Gartner T.B., Shea, K.L., Mankiewicz C., Rodgers J.L., Saunders P.A., Urban R.A., Kilgore J.S., Powell A.S., Ramage B.S., Steinweg J.M., Straub J.N., Bunnell S.L., Witkovsky-Eldred M. (Accepted 2020). Assessment of student learning in undergraduate courses with collaborative projects from the Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN). Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research.
- Koyama A., Steinweg J.M., Haddix M.L., Dukes J.S, Wallenstein, M.D. (2018). Soil bacterial community response to altered precipitation and temperature regimes in an old field grassland were mediated by plants. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 94, DOI 10.1093/femsec/fix156
- Jagadamma S., Mayes M.A., Steinweg, J.M., Schaeffer S.M. (2014). Biogeosciences Discussion, 11:4451-4482.
- Steinweg J.M., Kostka J., Hanson P.J., Schadt C.W. (2018). The temperature sensitivity of extracellular enzymes mediating carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling differs with depth and season in an ombrotrophic peatland. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 125:244-250.
- Wang G., Jagadamma S., Mayes M.A., Schadt C.W., Steinweg J.M., Gu L., Post W.M. (2015). Microbial dormancy improves development and experimental validation of ecosystem model. ISME Journal, 9: 226-267.
- Lin X., Tfaily M., Steinweg J.M., Chanton P., Esson K., Tang Z.K., Chanton J.P., Cooper W., Schadt C.W., and Kostka J.E. (2014). Microbial community stratification linked to the utilization of carbohydrates and phosphorus limitation in a boreal peatland at Marcell Experimental Forest. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 80:3518-3530.
- Lin W., Tfaily M.M., Green S., Steinweg J.M., Chanton P., Imvittaya A., Chanton J.P., Cooper W., Schadt C., and Kostka J.E. (2014). Microbial metabolic potential in carbon degradation and nutrient acquisition (N, P) in an ombrotrophic peatland. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 80: 3531-3540.
- Jagadamma S., Steinweg J.M., Mayes M.A., Wang G., Post W.M. (2013). Decomposition of added and native organic carbon from physically separated fractions of diverse soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 50: 613-621.
- Steinweg, J.M., Dukes, J.S., Paul, E.A., Wallenstein, M.D. (2013). Microbial response to multi-factor climate change: Effects on soil enzymes. Frontiers in Terrestrial Microbiology, 4, 1-11.
- Bell, C.W., Fricks, B.E., Rocca, J.D., Steinweg, J.M., McMahon, S.K., Wallenstein, M.D. (2013). High-throughput fluorometric measurement of potential soil extracellular enzyme activities. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 81, e50961, doi 10.3791/50961.
- Steinweg, J.M., Frerichs, J., Jagadamma, S., Mayes, M.A. (2013). Activation energy of extracellular enzymes in soils from different biomes. PLoS One, 8:e59943.
- Steinweg J.M., Dukes J.S., Wallenstein M.D. (2012). Modeling the effects of temperature and moisture on soil enzyme activity: Linking laboratory assays to continuous field data. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 55, 85-92.
- Wallenstein M., Allison S., Ernakovich J., Steinweg J.M., Sinsabaugh R. (2011). Controls on the temperature sensitivity of soil enzymes: A key driver of in-situ enzyme activity rates. Soil Enzymology. Pages 245-258 in G. Shukla, A. Varma, editors. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
- Conant R.T., Ryan M. G., Ågren G.I., Birge H.E., Davidson E.A., Eliasson P.E., Evans S.E., Frey S.D., Giardina C.P., Hopkins F., Hyvönen R., Kirschbaum M.U.F., Lavallee J.M, Leifeld J., Parton W.J., Steinweg J.M., Wallenstein M.D., Wetterstedt J.A.M., Bradford M.A. (2011). Temperature and soil organic matter decomposition - synthesis of current knowledge and a way forward. Global Change Biology, 17, 3392-3404.
- Plante A.F., Fernández J.M., Haddix M.L., Steinweg J.M., Conant R.T. (2011). Biological, chemical and thermal indices of soil organic matter stability. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 42, 1051-1058.
- Haddix M.L., Plante A.F., Conant R.T., Paul E.A., Six J., Steinweg J.M., Magrini-Bair K., Drijber R.A., Morris S.J. (2011). The role of soil characteristics on temperature sensitivity turnover. Soil Science Society of America, 75, 56-68.