![Science](/sites/default/files/styles/hero/public/2024/03/18/banner_science_0.jpg?itok=6ZSBMvd3)
![Science](/sites/default/files/styles/hero/public/2024/03/18/banner_science_0.jpg?itok=6ZSBMvd3)
-Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow, Australian-American Fulbright Foundation, The University of California, 1994- 97
-Adjunct Professor, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences, Northwestern University, 2003 – present
Professional societies
Member, Soil Science Society of America
Member, Society for Ecological Restoration
Committee, SSSA Applied Science Award (2021- 2024)
Editorial
2017 – present Handling Editor, Restoration Ecology
2017 – present Editorial Board, Geoderma Regional
My research focuses on furthering our understanding of the mycorrhizal symbiosis and its role in plant community composition and function.
Although largely hidden from us, mycorrhizal fungi are ubiquitous symbiotic partners within the roots of almost all land plants. These symbioses enhance nutrient and water uptake by plants, and also play a key role in stabilizing soils and enhancing carbon sequestration. As a result, any changes in the abundance of these fungi could feed back to influence the plant community and ecosystem health.
Current research projects in the lab reflect our collective interests in documenting the diversity of mycorrhizal fungi, their role in plant survival, and their responses to alterations in climate, land-use, and restoration:
New roots for restoration. Explaining the wide diversity of species we see in nature is one of the central challenges in all of ecology. Another is how to restore this diversity when a community has been extensively degraded, such as those in the tallgrass prairie. In the broadest sense, we are interested in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) communities and the mechanisms that influence nutrient acquisition, plant growth, and root-shoot interactions. Our previous work has explored the use of soil amendments and mycorrhizal inoculation in restoration, and tested soil factors that limit effective restoration. Our new work asks how intra-specific plant variation influences mycorrhizal diversity and function and, in turn, how these changes might feedback to alter plant community assembly. Collaborators: BII New Roots for Restoration members
Perennial crops and carbon sequestration. Food is a critical and overlooked environmental issue. The challenge: how to feed a burgeoning world population while increasing soil carbon sequestration and conserving diversity. Our research explores how perennial crops and regenerative agricultural practices can be harnessed to optimize soil carbon storage. Our experiments aim to develop a more nuanced and mechanistic understanding of how mycorrhizal fungi, water and soils interact with perennialized plant species, such as Kernza, and landscapes (agro-ecosystem, prairie, forage, perennial/annual crops) to modulate soil carbon sequestration. Collaborator: The Land Institute
Soil Science Society of America, https://www.soils.org
Society for Ecological Restoration, https://www.ser.org
Last updated: February 21, 2022