Molly Reichenborn joined the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University in August as the new Range Management Extension Specialist based in Manhattan. Molly grew up near Wichita with her older brother and parents in Goddard, where she loved being outdoors and caring for animals. These interests led her to initially pursue a career at Sedgwick County Zoo, where she worked with both exotic species and heritage livestock breeds while pursuing her undergraduate degree in biology. It wasn’t until she took plant ecology and land management classes that rangelands came onto her radar. Once they did, she pivoted to a career focused on the grasslands that surrounded her, but she had never fully appreciated growing up.
Dr. Molly Reichenborn, Range Management Extension Specialist
Molly completed both her undergraduate and master’s degrees at Wichita State University. As a master’s student, she studied the recovery of a tallgrass prairie following herbicide management of Sericea (Lespedeza cuneata). She also worked with her master’s advisor, Dr. Greg Houseman, and the Tallgrass Legacy Alliance to test the utility of MapitFast and SprayLogger to track and treat Sericea populations on ranches in eastern Kansas. She then worked as project manager for a study led by Drs. Bill Jensen (Emporia State University), Greg Houseman (WSU), and Mary Liz Jameson (WSU) examining the response of plant, bird, and insect communities to cattle grazing on Conservation Reserve Program lands in Kansas. Molly recently moved back to Kansas for her new role after finishing her PhD at New Mexico State University, studying the impact and effective management of Honey mesquite (Neltuma glandulosa) shrub encroachment into arid rangelands.
Molly is excited to join the long history of excellent extension and research at K-State and work with stakeholders across the state to address current and emerging issues on rangelands. Her research focuses on improving land management practices for effective invasive species, woody plant encroachment, and grazing management. In her free time, Molly enjoys knitting, hiking, making sourdough, and long walks with her husband and pup. She can be reached via email at mreichenborn@ksu.edu.
Tags: new faculty