91°µÍø

Bio

About me

I am the Director of the project, a lead investigator of the Fine-Root Ecology Database (), and I previously led the Belowground Tasks component of the project. I am also an Editor at the international plant journal New Phytologist and an elected Early Career Fellow of the Ecological Society of America, and I was a member of the inaugural cohort of ‘New Voices’ at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. I grew up exploring the fields and farms of mid-Michigan, and I received my BS at Hope College. I continued to move southward for my graduate work, receiving my MS at the University of Notre Dame and my PhD at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. I see science communication as the foundation for a shared understanding of society’s future, and I have shared my scientific vision on Public Radio International’s ‘Science Friday’, and in the Alda School’s ‘Flame Challenge’, as well as in organized symposia, sessions, and workshops. For more information, visit  and . 

Recent publications of interest

Please see  for more publications!

Berner LT, Orndahl KM, Rose M, Tamstorf M, Arndal MF, Alexander HD, Humphreys ER, Loranty MM, Ludwig SM, Nyman J, Juutinen S, Aurela M, Happonen K, Mikola J, Mack MC, Vankoughnett MR, Iversen CM, Salmon VG, Yang D, Kumar J, Grogan P, Danby RK, Scott NA, Olofsson J, Siewert MB, Deschamps L, Levesque E, Maire V, Morneault A, Gauthier G, Gignac C, Boudreau S, Gaspard A, Kholodov A, Bret-Harte MS, Greaves HE, Walker D, Gregory FM, Michelsen A, Kumpula T, Villoslada M, Ylanne H, Luoto M, Virtanen T, Forbes BC, Holzel N, Epstein H, Heim RJ, Bunn A, Holmes RM, Hung JKY, Natali SM, Virkkala A, Goetz SJ. 2024. . Scientific Data 11: 305.

Duchesneau K, Defrenne CE, Petro C, Malhotra A, Moore JAM, Childs J, Hanson PJ, Iversen CM, Kostka JE. 2024. . New Phytologist 242: 1333–1347.

Norby RJ, Warren JM, Iversen CM, Walker AP, Childs J. 2024. . Plants, People, Planet 6: 1480–1489. 

Seethepalli A, Ottley C, Childs J, Cope K, Fine AK, Lagergren JH, Kalluri U, Iversen CM, York LM. 2024. . New Phytologist, early view.

​Iversen CM, Latimer J, Brice DJ, Childs J, Vander Stel HM, Graham J, Griffiths N, Malhotra A, Norby RJ, Olehieser K, Phillips J, Salmon VG, Sebestyen SD, Yang X, Hanson PJ. 2023. . Ecosystems 26: 86-113. Highlighted &²Ô²ú²õ±è;​by the Department of Energy's Office of Science!

Wang B, McCormack ML, Ricciuto D, Yang X, Iversen CM. 2023. . Global Change Biology 29: 2871 – 2885. See a commentary of Bin’s paper !

Weber S, Iversen CM. 2023.  New Phytologist, Early View. This was a Commentary on the very cool paper by  on predicting Arctic rooting depth distribution. 

Weigelt A, Mommer L, Andraczek K, Iversen CM, Bergmann J, Bruelheide H, Freschet GT, Guerrero-Ramírez NR, Kattge J, Kuyper TW, Laughlin DC, Meier IC, van der Plas F, Poorter H, Roumet C, van Ruijven J, Maria Sabatini F, Semchenko M, Sweeney CJ, Valverde-Barrantes OJ, York LM, McCormack ML. 2023. . Nature (Matters Arising), 618: E29-E30. 

Defrenne CE, Childs J,  Fernandez CW, Taggart M,  Nettles WR, Allen MF,  Hanson PJ, Iversen CM. 2021. . Plants People Planet 3: 640 - 652. Part of a Special Issue on . 

Freschet GT, Pagès L, Iversen CM, et al. 2021. . New Phytologist 232: 973 - 1122.

Iversen CM, McCormack ML. 2021. . New Phytologist 231: 2097 - 2103. This is an introduction to a  that highlights new belowground understanding gained from more than 40 awesome papers published in  over just the last 2 years! 

Weigelt A, Mommer L, Andraczek K, Iversen CM, et al. 2021. . New Phytologist 232: 42 - 59. 

Bergman J, Weigelt A, van der Plas F, Laughlin DC, Kuyper TW, Guerrero-Ramirez N, Valverde-Barrantes OJ, Bruelheide H, Freschet GT, Iversen CM et al. 2020. . Science Advances 6: eaba3756. 

Iversen CM, Bolton WR, Rogers A, Wilson CJ, Wullschleger SD. 2020. . Eos 101. 

Malhotra A, Brice D, Childs J, Graham JD, Hobbie EA, Vander Stel H, Feron SC, Hanson PJ, Iversen CM. 2020. . PNAS 117: 17627 - 17634. Highlighted by Science Magazine, and also here by ORNL!

Iversen CM. 2019. . New Phytologist 223: 530 - 531. 

Iversen CM, Childs J, Norby RJ, Ontl TA, Kolka RK, Brice DJ, McFarlane KJ, Hanson PJ. 2018. . Plant and Soil 424: 123-143.

Iversen CM, McCormack ML, Powell AS, Blackwood CB, Freschet GT, Kattge J, Roumet C, Stover DB, Soudzilovskaia NA, Valverde-Barrantes OJ, van Bodegom PM, Violle C. 2017. . New Phytologist 215: 15-26.

Iversen CM, Sloan VL, Sullivan PF, Euskirchen ES, McGuire AD, Norby RJ, Walker AP, Warren JM, Wullschleger SD. 2015. . New Phytologist 205: 34-58.

McCormack ML, Dickie IA, Eissenstat DM, Fahey TJ, Fernandez CW, Guo D, Helmisaari H-S, Hobbie EA, Iversen CM, et al. 2015. . New Phytologist 207: 505-518.

Professional Experience

Director,  (2023 - Present)
Funded by: 
Office of Science, United States DOE

Deputy Director,  (2021 - 2023)
Funded by: 
Office of Science, United States DOE

​â¶Ä‹Group Leader, Plant - Soil Interactions Group (2020 - Present)
Environmental Sciences Division 
91°µÍø

Awards

Please see  for more information!

ORNL Women's Alliance Council  2024 Award for Sustained Inclusive Leadership
'For visionary leadership that extends beyond conventional boundaries, building a culture of trust and safety, and fostering interdisciplinary links between science, art, and community.'

Highly Cited Researcher, Web of Science Group, Clarivate Analytics​â¶Ä‹ (2019 - 2023)
‘In recognition of exceptional research performance demonstrated by production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% for field and year in Cross-Field or Plant and Animal Science.’

Exemplifying 91°µÍø Core Values:

• Safety. Colleen showcased NGEE Arctic's culture of safety and inclusion in an to the DOE Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee (BERAC) in October 2023.
• Impact. NGEE Arctic showcased their scientific achievements to Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, climate scientist and head of the DOE's Office of Science, on a visit to UtqiaÄ¡vik, Alaska in September 2023.

Science Communicator Award, UT-Battelle Awards Night (2019)
‘In recognition of Colleen’s many contributions to science communication and outreach, and to her ability to present science in a compelling manner to audiences of all ages.'

Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Mission Support, UT-Battelle Awards Night (2019)
‘Among the many achievements recognized at the 2019 UT-Battelle Awards Night, yours was selected as an exceptional contribution to our success.'

(2018 - 2020)
'The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are launching the 'New Voices in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine' initiative to identify outstanding early-career science, engineering, and medicine (SEM) leaders. They will engage in communicating the evidence base for addressing national and global challenges to provide new perspectives on issues of importance to the community represented by the National Academies, and to help identify ways to expand the diversity of expertise that is brought to all of the Academies' convening and advisory activities.'

 (2017 - 2021)
'Elected for her leadership and creativity in linking experimentation and modeling to advance ecological understanding of the influence of fine plant roots on the fate of vast pools of carbon and nutrients held in the soils of diverse biomes.'​

Stanley I. Auerbach Early-Career Award for&²Ô²ú²õ±è;​Excellence in Environmental Sciences (2012)
​Environmental Sciences Division, 91°µÍø

Finalist in New Phytologist Tansley Medal competition (2010)
.
Highlighted in 

Distinguished Achievement Award for Post-Graduate Research (2010)
Environmental Sciences Division, 91°µÍø

Education

​Ph.D., University of Tennessee, Knoxville (2003 - 2008)
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Co-advisors: Richard J. Norby and Aimee T. Classen
Dissertation: Forest responses to rising atmospheric CO2: Causes and consequences of increased fine-root production in a CO2-enriched sweetgum plantation

​â¶Ä‹M.S., University of Notre Dame (2001 - 2004)
Biological Sciences
Advisor: Scott D. Bridgham
Thesis: Scaling community nitrogen use- and uptake efficiencies in response to increased nutrient availability in peatlands

B.S. (cum laude), Hope College (1997 - 2001)
Biological and Environmental Sciences

Professional Service

(2023 - Present​)

Reviewer

Acta Oecologica; Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment; Annals of Botany; AoB PLANTS; Biogeosciences; Biology and Fertility of Soils; Biological Invasions; Canadian Journal of Forest Research; Climate Change Responses; Ecology; Ecology Letters; Ecosphere; Global Biogeochemical Cycles; Global Change Biology; Global Ecology and Biogeography; Journal of Ecology; Journal of Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences; Marine Ecology Progress Series; National Geographic Society; Nature; New Phytologist; Oecologia; Plant Physiology; Plant and Soil; Polar Science; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; Soil Biology and Biochemistry; Soil Science Society of America Journal; Tree Physiology; National Science Foundation; National Institute for Climate Change Research; Department of Energy, Office of Science.

Leadership program attendee

Alda-Kavli Leadership Program ‘Science Communication Workshop’, conducted by the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at 91°µÍø in November 2016. 

Organizer

• ‘’ workshop held at 91°µÍø, TN, USA in June 2014, and funded by the Department of Energy, Office of Science.
• ​‘Advancing minirhizotron use to examine ephemeral root dynamics in peatland and high carbon ecosystems’. Small workshop hosted at 91°µÍø in October 2010, and funded by the Department of Energy, Office of Science and New Phytologist Trust.

Co-Organizer

• ‘’. Organized Oral Session at the annual Ecological Society of America, Virtual Meeting, August 2020. Part of the ‘’.
• ‘’. Organized Oral Session at the annual Ecological Society of America meeting, August 2014, in Sacramento, CA, USA.
• ​‘Missing links in the root-soil organic matter continuum’. Organized Oral Session at the annual Ecological Society of America meeting, August 2009 in Albuquerque, NM, USA.

Organizing Committee Member

• ''
• '
• America Geophysical Union, Biogeosciences Section: Safety Series 2022, on-line events.
• ‘’, Ignite Session at Ecological Society of America annual meeting, August, 2017, Portland, Oregon, USA.
• 39th New Phytologist Symposium. ‘’, June 2017 in Exeter, UK.
• ‘’, held in Rockville, MD, USA in November 2015, and funded by the Department of Energy, Office of Science.
• ‘Scaling Root Processes: Global Impacts’ workshop held in Washington, DC, USA, in March 2012 and funded by the Department of Energy, Office of Science.

Panelist​

• Panelist and Mentor, , Durham, NC, 6-8 June 2024.
• ORNL, Ethics Awareness Month, Scientific Integrity Panel (Authorship) (17 August 2022)​.
• ORNL, Women Empowered through Business (WEB) Institute luncheon (14 July 2022).
• ORNL, Corporate Fellows Council’s Professional Development Seminar Series (27 May 2022).
• ORNL, ‘Boost your Network and Career’ (11 January 2022).

Session Leader

• America Geophysical Union, Biogeosciences Section Safety Series Event #5 - Tabletop Scenarios: Raise awareness and exchange ideas about real-life situations that may occur in the field, July 28 2022. 
• 'Self-sabotage and the imposter phenomenon in high-achieving women' at the annual Women's Leadership Workshop at 91°µÍø, March 2021. 

Society Member

American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Geophysical Union, Ecological Society of America.

Post-Doctoral Advisees

• Sören Weber (2022 – Present)
• Camille Defrenne (2019 – 2021)
• Avni Malhotra (2016 – 2018)
• Verity Salmon (2016 – 2019)                                 

Doctoral Dissertation Committees

• Kristine Cabugao (2016 – 2020)
• Tyler d'Entremont (2023 – ) 
• Katherine Duchesneau (2023 – )
• Mallory Ladd (2016 – 2018)
• Zach Langford (2016 – 2017)
• Tyler Poppenwimer (2017 – 2020)
• Ella Segal (2023 – ) 
• Ingrid Slette (2016 – 2021)
• Daniela Yaffar (2016 – 2018)​

(2023 – 2024)
​Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee

Professional Affiliations

Distinguished Staff Scientist (2022 - Present)
Environmental Sciences Division 
91°µÍø

Senior Staff Scientist ​â¶Ä‹(2016 - 2022)
Environmental Sciences Division&²Ô²ú²õ±è;​&²Ô²ú²õ±è;
91°µÍø

Staff Scientist (2012 - 2016)
Environmental Sciences Division&²Ô²ú²õ±è;​&²Ô²ú²õ±è;
91°µÍø

Associate Staff Scientist (2010 - 2012)
Environmental Sciences Division&²Ô²ú²õ±è;​&²Ô²ú²õ±è;
91°µÍø

​Post-doctoral research associate (2008 - 2010)
Environmental Sciences Division&²Ô²ú²õ±è;​
91°µÍø

Publications