After graduating with a Chemistry B.S. and a minor in Environmental Studies in 2010, I took a break from academia and worked for a professor doing research with edible mushrooms, began raising sheep, and started a family, among other things. In 2022, I went back to school in a MS/PhD program in Soil Science at Cornell University, where I have recently completed my Masters. My research in the Martínez Lab looks at how carbon moves through the soil, both in terms of downstream effects like lake browning and in terms of carbon and nutrient retention for regenerative agriculture. My time at Ithaca College was instrumental in shaping the research I do now. I worked with Akiko Fillinger in Chemistry and Susan Allen in Environmental Science to design a project looking at synthetic versus herbal dewormers used to treat equine parasites. The fate of dewormers and antibiotics in agricultural soils is still a highly relevant question and the flexibility to do a project like that as an undergraduate was not only very meaningful but set me up well for graduate school!
Alumni Spotlight! Alyssa de Villiers '10
By Department of the Environment, November 9, 2026
Meet Alyssa '10!
