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One of the major challenges in ecology and environmental sciences is to understand how soil processes operate over spatial and temporal scales to influence terrestrial ecosystems. Our research addresses this challenge in the context of microbial communities in soil which are now considered central in storing more carbon belowground.
Our work focusses on understanding the ecophysiology of microbes in the soil physico-chemical matrix and their response to land use and climate change. We use an improved process-based understanding to generate translational knowledge required to address the key societal challenges of sustainable land use, climate change resilience and natural habitat restoration.
We promote diversity and inclusivity in our efforts and welcome researchers and students from diverse backgrounds.
We are based at University of Edinburgh, University of Aberdeen and Edinburgh Napier University
Our work focusses on understanding the ecophysiology of microbes in the soil physico-chemical matrix and their response to land use and climate change. We use an improved process-based understanding to generate translational knowledge required to address the key societal challenges of sustainable land use, climate change resilience and natural habitat restoration.
We promote diversity and inclusivity in our efforts and welcome researchers and students from diverse backgrounds.
We are based at University of Edinburgh, University of Aberdeen and Edinburgh Napier University
Lab group photo taken in Spring 2023. We are based right next to the Cruickshank gardens
News
Dec 2024: New paper led by postdoc Kirsten Ball. Soil organic and inorganic carbon interactions under tillage and cover cropping determine potential for carbon accumulation in temperate, calcareous soils. Surprising findings: tillage increased soil carbon, microbial biomass correlated with soil inorganic carbon. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2024.106369
Dec 2024: Yingyi Fu, a postdoc at Zhejiang University, is visiting the lab for a year to work on bacterial evolutionary response to long-term drought and fungal-bacterial interactions during litter decomposition.
Nov 2024: New paper led by PI Ashish Malik in ISME Journal on microbial trait analyses in populations: Bacterial population-level trade-offs between drought tolerance and resource acquisition traits impact decomposition https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wrae224
Nov 2024: Yiling Wang has joined the lab as a postdoc on an HFSP-funded project on 'Scaling the impact of viruses in the methane cycle in wetlands'.
Oct 2024: New paper led by postdoc Lisa Cole out in ISME Communications. We demonstrate taxa-trait changes related to mechanisms of soil carbon cycling across land use intensity gradients. https://doi.org/10.1093/ismeco/ycae116
Dec 2024: Yingyi Fu, a postdoc at Zhejiang University, is visiting the lab for a year to work on bacterial evolutionary response to long-term drought and fungal-bacterial interactions during litter decomposition.
Nov 2024: New paper led by PI Ashish Malik in ISME Journal on microbial trait analyses in populations: Bacterial population-level trade-offs between drought tolerance and resource acquisition traits impact decomposition https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wrae224
Nov 2024: Yiling Wang has joined the lab as a postdoc on an HFSP-funded project on 'Scaling the impact of viruses in the methane cycle in wetlands'.
Oct 2024: New paper led by postdoc Lisa Cole out in ISME Communications. We demonstrate taxa-trait changes related to mechanisms of soil carbon cycling across land use intensity gradients. https://doi.org/10.1093/ismeco/ycae116
