Research Projects
North Carolina produces over 150 commodities including newly merging and speciality crops. Our group used molecular sequencing approaches to quantify beneficial microbial traits within crop-microbe-soil systems. Statewide research sites span diverse ecological regions, 18 agricultural research stations (including the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, CEFS ), and private farms.
microbiome responses to long-term management systems
The Farming Systems Research Unit at CEFS is a long-term large-scale agronomic systems study. We are using amplicon sequencing to investigate community responses to long-term management practices. We are also using metagenome sequencing to link functional genetic potential to community resilience and GHG emissions. Learn more here!
Efficacy & Ecological impact of Microbial products
Microbial inputs are promising solutions for sustainable agriculture. But product performance can be highly variable, and local data is often lacking. In collaboration with the Official Variety Testing team, we conduct replicated field trials to determine the efficacy of commercial biologicals and use amplicon sequencing to assess their ecological impact on plant microbiomes.
Microbial responses to climate change
In collaboration with the DeAngelis Lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, we use comparative genomics to identify adaptive traits related to long-term soil warming at the Harvard Forest LTER site. Watch Dr. DeAngelis’s 2021 Distinguished Faculty Lecture on our work here.
microbial culture collections
We build culture collections of soil and plant-associated microbes to investigate microbial genomic and phenotypic traits related to soil-microbe-plant interactions.