Soils are teeming with billions of microorganisms. Invisible to us, these microorganisms silently work to maintain soil health by breaking down organic matter and recycling nutrients in our environment. Microorganisms also support soil structure and promote plant growth and respond to changing environmental conditions, and in turn impact the overall ecosystem health. The spatial scales at which these interactions occur range from small nanometer scale to large-global scale. Discover who these microorganism are, what they do, why we need microorganisms to maintain healthy soil, and how soil microbiology research is helping inform global ecosystem change.
Speaker:
Dr. Aditi Sengupta is a soil scientist with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Her work focuses on understanding how soil microorganisms interact with their environment and evaluating the impact of changing environmental conditions on soil biogeochemistry. Dr. Sengupta has experience working with agricultural, newly-formed, and coastal soils and brings her expertise to large collaborative research groups that examine ecosystem responses to environmental perturbation. She is passionate about science communication and enjoys reading and cooking in her free time.