国外博士后 - Microbial Ecology:  Nitrogen Cycling in Soil （University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign）

Post Doctoral Position
Microbial Ecology:  Nitrogen Cycling in Soil 
 
Location:  University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Start Date:  September 2011 

Project Summary:  This  DOE-funded  collaborative research project titled “PUNCS: Towards Predictive Understanding of Nitrogen Cycling  in Soils”,  is led by Frank Löffler at the University of Tennessee with collaborators from Georgia Tech, USDA-ARS and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  
To elucidate the environmental factors controlling N-turnover in soils, we will conduct physiological studies, stable isotope probing (SIP) experiments, (meta)genomics and (meta)transcriptomics analyses, and high resolution imaging (NanoSIMS) on systems  of increasing complexity (i.e., pure cultures to mesocosms established with distinct Midwest U.S. soil types). We will quantitatively monitor genes and transcripts related to N-turnover in response to changes in pH, temperature, soil moisture, C- and N-content and assess the emitted gases using a mass balance approach based on (geo)chemical and stable isotope measurements. By comparing the gene-centric and genomic (who is there?) to the transcriptomic, SIP (who is active?) and NanoSIMS (how active?) data gathered from different treatments, system-level insights into the pathways controls and the functional redundancy within microbial communities controlling N-flux in soils will be obtained. The proposed research takes advantage of previous accomplishments,  ongoing SBR/GTL-funded projects, an experienced, highly interdisciplinary team, and complements efforts performed in DOE’s  BioEnergy Science Center (BESC). The integrative analysis of data obtained at the  molecular/micro scale  (e.g., genes and species responding to treatments) to (at least) the  intermediate scale  (e.g., rates of processes in mesocosms) will provide crucial information to (i) improve soil quality and enhance biomass yields for bioenergy production, (ii) reduce N-loss due to nitrate runoff, (iii) predict and control the movement and fate of environmental contaminants, whose fate is linked to N-turnover (e.g., toxic metals and radionuclides), (iv) develop a comprehensive understanding of the interlinked cycling of N and C, (v) generate currently lacking datasets required to improve predictive N-flux and greenhouse gas emission models, (vi) provide innovative technologies to characterize in-situ biological processes and networks at different levels of resolution, and (vii) evaluate metatranscriptomics as a quantitative in-situ monitoring tool.

Position Details:  This person will be responsible for soil mesocosm and microcosm experiments conducted at the University of Illinois.  Thus we seek someone with some comfort in working with a complex experimental platform (e.g. bioreactors, soil columns or growth chambers) and experience with both chemical analyses and biological analyses.  
 
Contact:    Robert A. Sanford
Research Associate Professor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Geology
245 Natural History Bldg.
1301 W. Green St.
Urbana, Illinois   61801
Email:  rsanford@illinois.edu
Ph: 217-244-7250
 

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