Francesca Cotrufo, Professor and Associate Head of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University will visit Clemson as part of the TIGERS ADVANCE Distinguished Speaker Series. Professor Cotrufo, a Senior Scientist at Colorado State’s Natural Resource Ecology laboratory, is a soil ecologist and biogeochemist with research interests in understanding the mechanisms and drivers of formation and persistence of soil organic matter, and its response to global environmental changes and disturbances.. Dr. Cotrufo has a long track record of successful mentoring of women in STEM with more than 40 women from her soil science programs going on to be successful students, post-doctorates, research scientists, faculty, and teachers.  Dr. Cotrufo is an incredibly successful research scientist, who is equally passionate about student learning and student success, and she is a dedicated mentor who strives to support and promote women in soil science, from K-16 to graduate school to the profession. Her lecture is hosted by the department of Plant and Environmental Sciences.