DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Beyond the black box: understanding the relationship between microbial community structure and function under environmental stress and disturbance

土壤微生物群落介导全球养分循环，是温室气体循环的一个组成部分，但干扰可以改变这些社区的功能动态和组成。如果不了解微生物群落的结构以及哪些因素最影响这些结构的变化并最终发挥作用，科学家就无法完全理解人类干扰（如全球气候变化）对生态系统的影响。本研究将评估土壤DNA遗传分析所揭示的生态系统过程速率和微生物群落组成之间的耦合程度。微生物群落结构的测量将与特定生态系统过程速率的测量相结合，这些速率与适当的遗传分组有关。这些措施的微生物群落结构和功能的耦合压力或干扰是第一步纳入微生物多样性的生态系统模型。这项研究将为合作PI提供一个机会，进一步努力接触堪萨斯的K-12学生。 共同PI担任研究员在美国国家科学基金会的GK-12计划在堪萨斯大学，与中学生物老师合作，将真实的科学探究经验到她的课堂。作为与学童分享科学进步的持续努力的一部分，共同PI通过小学科学之夜、堪萨斯女孩“拓展你的视野”会议以及当地高中关于全球气候变化的讲座等活动在当地学校展示她的工作。

Soil microbial communities mediate global nutrient cycles and are an integral part of the cycling of greenhouse gases, yet disturbance can alter the functional dynamics and composition of these communities. Without an understanding of how microbial communities are structured and what factors most influence changes in these structures and ultimately function, scientists cannot fully understand the impacts of human disturbances such as global climate change on ecosystems. This research will assess the degree of coupling between ecosystem process rates and microbial community composition as revealed by genetic analyses of soil DNA. Measures of microbial community structure will be coupled with measures of specific ecosystem process rates that are associated with appropriate genetically based groupings. The coupling of these measures of microbial community structure and function under stress or disturbance is a first step towards incorporating microbial biodiversity into ecosystem models. This research will provide an opportunity for the co-PI to further her efforts to reach out to K-12 students in Kansas. The co-PI serves as a Fellow in NSF's GK-12 program at the University of Kansas, collaborating with a middle school biology teacher to incorporate real scientific inquiry experiences into her classroom. As part of an on-going effort to share scientific progress with schoolchildren, the co-PI presents her work at local schools via events such as an elementary school science night, the "Expanding Your Horizons" conference for girls in Kansas, and a lecture on global climate change at a local high school.