Kendra Spence Cheruvelil

Kendra Spence Cheruvelil

Kendra Spence Cheruvelil , Ph.D.

Dean
She/Her
LB Course Subject Area: Biology
Professor
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife

Holmes Hall, W-183
919 E. Shaw Lane
East Lansing, MI 48825
United States

(517) 353-6486
ksc@msu.edu

LBC Courses Taught

LB 144: Biology I: Organismal Biology
LB 492: Senior Seminar

Biography

Kendra Spence Cheruvelil is dean of Lyman Briggs College and a professor jointly appointed in Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. She is a freshwater ecologist who studies lakes at large spatial and temporal scales to understand how they respond to environmental change. Cheruvelil co-leads the LAGOS project and the Bridge Lab, and has helped develop the field of landscape limnology. Her research is highly collaborative and interdisciplinary, using big data, open science, and team science to advance ecology and promote ethical, inclusive scientific environments. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in biology and ecology, and is deeply committed to student and early-career scientist development. Kendra also conducts research on teaching and learning, especially around teamwork and diversity in STEM. She has held several leadership roles focused on faculty affairs and inclusive academic culture, and is known for building strong, mission-driven teams that solve complex problems together. 

Since 2020, Cheruvelil has served as dean of Lyman Briggs College.

Education

  • Ph.D., Fisheries and Wildlife & Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior, Michigan State University
  • M.S., Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University
  • B.S., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Statistics Minor, The University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

Honors and Awards

  • MSU William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award, 2021 
  • Fellow, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), 2018 
  • Research Exemplar, Professionalism and Integrity in Research Program, 2017 
  • Excellence Award in Interdisciplinary Scholarship [with K. Elliot, G. Montgomery, P. Soranno, I. Settles, and P.-N. Tan], MSU Chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Scholarship Theme: Promoting inclusive, ethical, and successful STEM teams. 2015 
  • MSU Teacher-Scholar Award, 2012

Publications

Ecology at Scale

  • Soranno, P.A., P.J. Hanly, K.E. Webster, T. Wagner, A. McDonald, A. Shuvo, E.M. Schliep, K.L. Reinl, I.M. McCullough, P.-N. Tan, N.R. Lottig, K.S. Cheruvelil. 2025. Abrupt changes in algal biomass of thousands of US lakes are related to climate and are more likely in low-disturbance watersheds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 122 (9): e2416172122 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2416172122. 
  • Díaz Vázquez, J. I.M. McCullough, M. Haite, P.A. Soranno, & K. Spence Cheruvelil. 2024. US lakes are monitored disproportionately less in communities of color. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2803. 
  • Cheruvelil, K.S., P.A. Soranno, I.M. McCullough, K.E. Webster, L. Rodriguez, and N. Smith. 2021. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0: Data module of location, identifiers, and physical characteristics of lakes and their watersheds in the conterminous U.S. Limnology and Oceanography Letters https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10203

Inclusive and effective research cultures and practices

  • Douglas, H.M., I.H. Settles, K. Spence Cheruvelil, G.M. Montgomery, K.C. Elliott, E.A. Cech, T.M. Davis, G. Ma, A.K. Hawkins, & L.R. Nadolsky. 2024. The importance of inclusive climate within the research group, department, and profession for marginalized science scholars’ career outcomes. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000589
  • Douglas, H.M., K.C. Elliott, I.H. Settles, G.M. Montgomery, T.M. Davis, L.R. Nadolsky, and K. Spence Cheruvelil. 2024. Authorship Climate: A New Tool for Studying Ethical Issues in Authorship. Accountability in Research. 31(5): 403-427. https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2022.2140587
  • Douglas, H.M., I.H. Settles, Cech E.A., G.M. Montgomery, L.R. Nadolsky, A.K. Hawkins, G. Ma, T.M. Davis, K.C. Elliott, and K. Spence Cheruvelil. 2022. Disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on marginalized and minoritized early-career academic scientists. PLoS ONE 17(9): e0274278 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274278

Teaching and learning:

  • Cheruvelil, K.S., A. De Palma-Dow, and K. Smith. 2020. Strategies to promote effective student research teams in undergraduate biology labs. American Biology Teacher 82: 18-27. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2020.82.1.18
  • Vergara, C.E., H. Campa, III, K.S. Cheruvelil, D. Ebert-May, C. Fata-Hartley, K. Johnston, M. Urban-Lurain. 2014. FAST-Future Academic Scholars in Teaching: A High-Engagement Development Program for Future STEM Faculty. Journal of Innovative Higher Education 39: 93-107.
  • Cheruvelil, K.S.  and X. Ye. 2012. Do college introductory biology courses increase student ecological literacy? Journal of College Science Teaching 42(2): 26-32.