Blesh named Red Cedar Distinguished Professor at MSU
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EmailJennifer Blesh, Ph.D., an incoming faculty member in the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, has been named a Red Cedar Distinguished Professor, effective March 2, 2026.
Jennifer Blesh, Ph.D., an incoming faculty member in the Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), has been named a Red Cedar Distinguished Professor, effective March 2, 2026.
Blesh will hold appointments in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. Her interdisciplinary research applies ecological knowledge to foster transitions to sustainable agriculture and food systems. She will join MSU from the University of Michigan, where she has served as an associate professor of ecosystem science and management and food systems in the School for Environment and Sustainability for the past 12 years.
Established in 2022, the Red Cedar Distinguished Professor program recognizes current and new faculty for exemplary scholarly achievement, teaching excellence and alignment with MSU’s strategic research priorities. It supports the recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty while enhancing the university’s national and global reputation.
An internationally recognized agroecologist, Blesh uses interdisciplinary approaches to study the ecological and social outcomes of food systems. Her research advances knowledge of ecological nutrient management, with an emphasis on diversified agroecosystems, soil nitrogen and carbon cycles, and legume nitrogen fixation. She also examines the social processes that shape food system transformation, from production through consumption, to support more ecologically sustainable and socially just systems.
“Our work identifying the outcomes of agricultural diversification with cover crop mixtures contributes to a better understanding of transitions away from reliance on commercial fertilizers and how to build resilience to a changing climate,” said Blesh.
Her work integrates ecological and social science methods, often in collaboration with farmers through on-farm research and with broader agricultural and food system communities. Through this applied research, Blesh has contributed to understanding how agricultural diversification, nutrient management strategies and social networks can strengthen agroecosystem resilience and food system sustainability.
“I am thrilled to have this new opportunity to connect my on-farm research projects and networks with the rich, long-term data generated by the LTER, LTAR, and GLBRC experiments at KBS,” said Blesh. “Linking these research approaches will enable us to understand ecosystem processes and services across diverse agricultural contexts, which can inform how to shift public and private resources toward the systems that have the greatest ecological and social benefits.”
Her research program has been supported by competitive funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the National Science Foundation. She has published widely in leading scientific journals on agricultural diversification, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and strategies to improve adoption of conservation and cover crop practices.
Blesh earned her doctorate and master’s degrees in soil and crop sciences from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in ecology from the University of Georgia. She previously served as a National Science Foundation International Research Postdoctoral Fellow at the Federal University of Mato Grosso in Brazil.
