Chris Shepard

Christopher Shepard
Assistant Professor

Professional Profile

2018-Present, Assistant Professor, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky

2014-2018, Graduate Associate in Environmental Pedology Laboratory, Dept. of Soil, Water
and Environmental Science, the University of Arizona

2012-2014, Graduate Assistant in Environmental Pedology Laboratory, Dept. of Soil, Water
and Environmental Science, University of Arizona

Education

2014-2018 Ph.D. in Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, 
Advisor: Craig Rasmussen,
Dissertation: Understanding soil formation and survival in Southeastern Arizona

2014 M.S. in Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Advisor: Craig Rasmussen, Thesis: Soil modulation of ecosystem response to climate forcing and change across the US Desert Southwest

2011 B.S. in Environmental Science, University of Virginia

2005-2007 Jackson River Governor’s School for Math, Science and Technology, Dabney S. Lancaster Community College

Additional Information

Publications

  • Shepard C, Pelletier JD, Rasmussen C. Past climate change constraint on soil formation and survival. (In prep for Quaternary Research.)
  • Shepard C, Schaap M, Chorover J, Rasmussen C. Predicting the three-dimensional soil chemical structure of a small forested catchment of the Santa Catalina-Jemez River Basin Critical Zone Observatory. (In prep for SSSAJ.)
  • Fairbanks D, Shepard C, Murphy M, Rasmussen C, Chorover J, Rich V, Gallery R. Topographic controls on soil microbial enzyme activity:  applying digital soil mapping tools following wildfire disturbance in a sub-alpine catchment. (In prep for Soil Biology and
    Biochemistry.)

Honors

2016-2018 NASA/UA Graduate Space Grant Fellow, University of Arizona

2016 2nd Place Graduate Student Paper, Mineralogy Division, Soil Science Society of
America Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ

2015 1st Place Graduate Student Paper, Pedology Division, Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN

2014-2015 University Fellow, University of Arizona

2014-2015 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Graduate Fellowship, University of Arizona

2013 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Master’s Level Meritorious Graduate Teaching Award, University of Arizona