Kendra Spence Cheruvelil

Dr. Kendra Spence Cheruvelil is the co-director of the Bridge Lab in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and is a member of MSU’s Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program and the Environmental Science and Policy Program. As co-lead of the LAGOS project, Kendra helps develop tools and approaches for studying freshwater at macroscales to answer scientific questions and inform ecosystem management and policy. She is on the advisory committee for the MSU Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Collaboration, Learning, and Engagement (CIRCLE) and is on the steering committee for the MSU Future Academic Scholars in Teaching (FAST) Fellows Program. Prior to joining MSU, Dr. Cheruvelil was a faculty member in the Purdue University system. She has a dual Ph.D. from MSU in Fisheries & Wildlife and Ecology, Evolution, & Behavior, a B.S. from the University of Rochester, and grew up in central Massachusetts.

Inclusive leadership

Since 2020, Kendra has served as the Dean of the Lyman Briggs College, which is MSU’s residential college for ~2,000 undergraduates who are studying the sciences within their societal and global contexts. She is a mission- and vision-driven leader who advances both individuals and the institutions they are embedded within. Kendra is a systems-thinker and visionary leader who enjoys cultivating teams that solve complex problems through collaboration and creativity. With over 20 years spent mastering team dynamics, teaching students to be effective team members, leading large and interdisciplinary research teams, and serving on and leading administrative teams, Kendra has developed a deep commitment to partnerships that go beyond basic cooperation to elevate collective goals. She believes that strong, positive relationships, rooted in our individual and collective humanity, are central to success. Before becoming a dean, Kendra was Founding Director of LBC’s Scholarship of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Program (2016-2018), LBC’s Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Affairs (2017-2019), and Special Advisor for Faculty Affairs and Belonging in MSU’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (2020).

Disciplinary expertise

As a big-data lake ecologist, Kendra develops concepts, approaches, and research platforms to advance ecology at scale. She has also helped lead the development of landscape limnology – the study of the multi-scaled spatial and temporal drivers of lake chemistry and biology. Kendra and her collaborators have spent decades conducting research on lakes at the necessary regional and macroscales to better understand how ecological systems will respond to global changes. Her collaborative research crosses disciplinary boundaries to solve complex problems and uses team science, open science, and data-intensive science to advance ecology at scale.

Advancing ethical and inclusive environments

As a biology educator, Kendra designed course-based research experiences that built student skills in inclusive teamwork. Inspired by the transformative potential of these high-impact practices in the classroom, she integrates team science principles deeply into her scientific inquiry. Kendra now conducts highly collaborative and interdisciplinary research dedicated to understanding and promoting ethical, inclusive, and equitable cultures and practices within science teams, labs, departments, and societies.

Interested in learning what a professor’s sabbatical is like?

Check out Kendra’s professional blog, written while she was at Queen’s University Belfast during August 2013-July 2014.