Sustainability Leadership Fellowship Cohort: 2012-2013

Ph.D. Student, Department of Ecosystem Science & Sustainability

Research Summary: Permafrost (or permanently frozen) soils contain vast stores of carbon that may be released to the atmosphere by microbial decomposition if permafrost thaws. Degradation of permafrost has already been observed. Despite the potential for large amounts of carbon to be liberated from permafrost, we lack the understanding of the factors that affect the rate of decomposition in those soils. I am researching how the activity of the microbial community in permafrost changes with an increase in temperature, and how this will affect the amount of carbon stored or released from these soils under future climates.