My professional goal is to gain a better understanding of plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere and their role in ecosystem processes. Specifically, I want to know how the dynamic interactions between plants and soil microbes shape ecosystem-level processes, such as nutrient and energy cycling, across space and time in changing environments. My current and past research projects focus on:
- The roles of soil microbiomes in exotic plant invasibility,
- Responses of soil microbial communities to global change factors (e.g., warming, elevated CO2, altered precipitation regime) and consequent dynamics of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O), and
- Effects of disturbances (e.g. forest fires) on nutrients and energy cycling mediated by soil microbes and plants.