Emily Wedel, a plant biologist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Notre Dame, was awarded the Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
One of Notre Dame’s Society of Science Fellows, Wedel was awarded the fellowship under the “Understanding the Rules of Life: Emerging Networks” funding opportunity, a competitive category for scientists whose work bridges the different scales of biology, describing the interactions among organismal, environmental, social, and human-engineered systems.
Wedel is interested in the individual-level physiology of plants and how that might scale up to drive changes in what species live in an ecosystem. She’s also interested in the larger-scale changes in carbon storage and water cycling. One type of ecosystem she studies is African savannas, which are ever-changing. Wedel focuses on how herbivores—animals like giraffes and elephants—affect savanna plants. She also factors in rainfall and tree cover.
“We’re looking at the trees on the individual level, and then also at a community level, by comparing trees out in the open versus trees inside of exclosures (fenced-off areas where herbivores cannot graze), where they have been excluded for nearly twenty years,” Wedel said. “That helps us see how savannas have changed over time without large mammals.”
The research award from the NSF allows her to extend her time at Notre Dame as a postdoctoral fellow and continue her work at MPala Research Centre in Kenya, a field station that hosts a large network of scientists from institutions worldwide.
“It gives me a little security for the next several years to pursue the research I am most excited about, and especially with international work, it takes a lot of resources to do it successfully,” she said. “When applying for jobs, I can show that I am an independent researcher who has ownership over my ideas.”
She has shared the educational impact of her work at Notre Dame during her mentorship of two undergraduate honors biology majors, juniors Joseph Draganowski and Noah Hanisch, who spent 10 weeks in Kenya last summer and plan to return for the summer of 2026.
Wedel credits her role as a Society of Science Fellow as well as her collaboration with Assistant Professor Tyler Coverdale, who shares many of her research interests and was foundational in helping her craft a funding proposal.
“I’m not convinced I would have gotten this NSF fellowship without them,” she said.
Originally published by at science.nd.edu on April 09, 2026.