Gideon Fynaardt
MS Agroecology & Soil Science (Sanford Lab)
Research Assistant
Gideon is a graduate student from northwest Iowa, where his passion for ecology and agriculture began. He earned his B.A. In Biology—Ecological Science from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. He began pursuing a master’s degree in Agroecology in Fall of 2024 under the advising of Dr. Gregg Sanford, and he aims to produce great research in the areas of agricultural soil science and physical science-driven agroecology.
My research is concerned with improving the soil health and maintaining the productivity and profitability of cash-grain agroecosystems by increasing their ecological complexity through ecological intensification. This project is built into the 30+ year Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial in Arlington, WI, and there I am conducting the 6-year assessment of a slate of systematic, ecologically inspired modifications associated with improved soil health made to three cash-grain systems common to the Cornbelt of the United States (continuous corn, corn-soybean rotation, organic small grains). Working with the Soil Carbon & Cropping System Ecology lab, the modified systems will be assessed for a suite of soil health metrics, productive output, and economic performance.