A team of Michigan State University researchers has received a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to evaluate soil health changes from intensive rainfall and/or drought.
The project is led by Alexandra Kravchenko, professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences. Her research primarily delves into understanding the processes that drive soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emission.
The team includes:
- Sarah Evans, associate professor and microbial ecologist in the Department of Integrative Biology and the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station.
- Andrey Guber, professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, who specializes in soil physics, hydrology and modeling transport of microbes in soil.
- James Moran, an associate professor in the departments of Integrative Biology, and Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, who studies nutrient exchange in soil.
The group will explore the effects summer weather patterns of extreme droughts and intensive rainfalls have on soils in Midwest corn, soybean and wheat production systems. Kravchenko said that while these changes in extreme weather are often discussed in future terms, they are already occurring.