Kate Ivancic
Kate joined the University of Wisconsin in January 2014 as a dual-degree master’s student in Soil Science and Agroecology. Her current research focuses on the use of cover crops for nutrient optimization in sweet corn cropping systems in the Central Sands region of Wisconsin. Through the quantification of nitrogen mineralization rates, Kate hopes to gain a better understanding of the ever-elusive timing and synchrony between crop nitrogen needs and soil available nitrogen. Kate is hopeful that her research findings from the Central Sands will not only help reduce nitrate leaching in domestic waterways, but also prove relevant to the broader global food security discussion.
Before moving to Madison, Kate completed research as a Fulbright grantee in Uruguay investigating the region’s changing food system, specifically the environmental and social implications of Uruguay’s emerging soybean market. Kate’s combined interest in soil science and international food systems came from her international and domestic work with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). She served as a program analyst in Washington, D.C. for the USDA, Foreign Agriculture Service where she implemented school feeding and agricultural development programming in West Africa. Domestically, Kate worked in her native Ohio, supporting farmers’ integration of conservation practices into their cropping systems as a Soil Conservationist, with the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Kate graduated from Ohio State University in 2007 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Policy and Management. In her free time, she’s happiest dancing, singing, and belly-laughing with her family and friends. On most days she can be found getting her hands dirty in the field and kitchen, alike.