NEWS
7/1/2011 We welcome back our post-doc Thanwalee 'JiJY' Sooksanguan from Thailand to work with us on our molecular evaluation rhizobia associating with legume cover crops. Welcome back to NC!
4/18/2011 Congratulations to Julie Grossman and her team for receiving the Opal Mann Green Engagement and Scholarship award for community garden outreach work in low-income communities!
11/10/2010 Congratulations to our graduate student Nape Mothapo for receiving the 2010 Hugh Hammond Bennett Award in Soil Science! Way to go, Nape!
08/18/10 And yet another one joins the team! Welcome to Matthew Brown, coming to us from NYC where he was a soil scientist in Central Park. Matthew will be studying decomposition of legume covers killed using different termination methods such as rolling, herbicide, and incorporation.
5/23/2010 We welcome our newest graduate student, Erika Larsen, who will be identifying biological indicators of soil quality associated with soil and water runoff in organic systems. Welcome, Erika!
WELCOME!
The Soil Agroecology Lab at North Carolina State University is directed by Dr. Julie Grossman in the Soil Science department. Our work broadly explores the ways in which we can better manage plant-soil-microbe relationships in order to enhance soil fertility with the ultimate goal of developing sustainable food production systems. We use both molecular and field-based approaches to answer our research questions, which range in scale from genes to ecosystems. Specific projects in which we are currently involved include:
- Investigating soil quality and organic matter lost through erosion in no-till and conventially tilled plots under convential and organic management.
- Quantifying nitrogen-fixation, N-release, and carbon contribution of a variety of winter annual legume cover crop species in organic systems utilizing the roller-crimper tool and other strategies for cover crop termination.
- Unraveling the complexities of rhizobia biodiversity in North Carolina soils so that we can identify the symbiotic partners appropriate for cover crops in our region.
- Learning about rhizobia diversity and legume performance in under-resourced regions of the world where agriculture is critical for food security.
We invite you to peruse our website to learn more of the details of our research and outreach efforts. If you are interested in becoming a part of our team, please contact Dr. Julie Grossman. We welcome prospective graduate students, undergraduate researchers and employees, visiting researchers and scholars, or potential collaboraters to join in our exciting exploration of soil fertility management in organic and low input systems.
Dr. Grossman's Curriculum Vitae