Lab Coordinator/Research Support Specialist
sw783@cornell.edu
Education
B.S., 2010, Summa Cum Laude, Environmental Science, Allegheny College, Meadville PA.
M.S., 2013, Soil Science, Washington State University, Puyallup WA.
Past Research
My undergraduate degree in Environmental Science began my interest in sustainable farming; later at the Rodale Institute I became involved with cover cropping in reduced tillage organic agriculture. At Washington State University I studied this system in further detail: examining the effects of cover crop variety, termination timing, and termination techniques on soil health, weed dynamics, crop production, and ecosystem services. The goal of my work is to make sustainable farming practices more accessible and effective for farmers.
Current Work
As lab coordinator, I conduct hiring and recruiting, organize field sampling events, support our graduate students and post-docs, lead teams of research assistants, manage samples and data organization, write manuscripts and reports, collect plant and soil data, and generally attempt to reduce chaos. My research interests with the lab have included perennial grains, cover crop breeding, and no-till organic management.
When not putting plants in paper bags, I can be found playing the pipe organ, riding my bicycle, cross-country skiing, creating plant-based recipes, and rescuing food.
Selected Publications
Wayman, S.,V Debray, S Parry, C David, and MR Ryan. 2019. Perspectives on perennial grain crop production differ between organic and conventional farmers in the United States and France. Agriculture 9(11) 244.
Wayman, S., LK Kucek, SB Mirsky, V Ackroyd, S Cordeau, MR Ryan. 2017. Organic and conventional farmers differ in their perspectives on cover crop use and breeding. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 32(4), 376-385.
Wayman, S., C Cogger, et al. (2015) Cover crop effects on light, nitrogen, and weeds, in organic reduced tillage. Agroecology and Food Systems. 39(6): 647-665.
Wayman, S., C Cogger, et al. (2014) The influence of cover crop variety, termination timing and termination method on mulch, weed cover and soil nitrate in reduced-tillage organic systems. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems.
Wayman, S., RD Bowden, and RB Mitchel. (2013) Seasonal changes in shoot and root Nitrogen distribution in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Bioenergy Research 7(1).