UNH Today

Serita Frey, UNH professor of natural resources and the environment and a leading researcher on soil microbial ecology, has been selected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Frey’s recognition for this honor, bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers, cites “her distinguished contributions to microbial and ecosystem ecology, particularly the effect of anthropogenic stressors, or human activities like deforestation and urbanization, on soil microbial communities and microbial-mediated carbon and nitrogen cycles.”

Frey’s research focuses on how human activities — climate change, agricultural management, invasive species — affect ecosystems, with an emphasis on soil microorganisms and nutrient cycling. Her research team maintains five long-term global change experiments at the Harvard Forest Long-term Ecological Research site and a statewide, distributed soil sensor network in New Hampshire.

“In addition to her tremendous scientific contributions, Serita is an intellectual leader and outstanding colleague and mentor and I am thrilled to see her receive this is well-deserved recognition and honor,” says Anthony Davis, dean of UNH’s College of Life Sciences and Agriculture.

Earlier this year, Frey was named a fellow of the Ecological Society of America. The Web of Science group named her to its highly cited researchers list, distinction earned by fewer than 0.1 percent of scientists globally.

Frey is among 489 AAAS members awarded this honor this year; five other UNH faculty members are AAAS fellows (Steve Frolking, research professor of Earth sciences; Bill McDowell, professor of natural resources and the environment; Nathan Schwadron, the Norman S. and Anna Marie Waite Professor of physics; Stacia Sower, professor emerita of molecular, cellular and biomedical sciences; and Harlan Spence, director of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space and professor of physics).

This year’s AAAS fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on Nov. 27, 2020. A virtual fellows forum – an induction ceremony for the new fellows – will be held on Feb. 13, 2021.

AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of cutting-edge research through its Science family of journals. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes more than 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more.