High daily temperature range of soil (DTRsoil) negatively affects soil microbial biomass and activity, but its interaction with seasonal soil moisture in regulating ecosystem function remains unclear. For our 5-year field study in the Chihuahuan Desert, we suspended shade cloth 15 cm above the soil surface to reduce daytime temperature […]
Background It is now apparent that the complex microbial communities found on and in the human body vary across individuals. What has largely been missing from previous studies is an understanding of how these communities vary over time within individuals. To the extent to which it has been considered, it […]
On January 5th, Bruce Hungate presented at Science on Tap at the Green Room, Flagstaff. Featuring an update on the Paris agreement (COP21), new science, legal intrigue, and what Elvis can teach us about climate models.
In Alaska: Too Many Fires, Not Enough Snow “Normally a cold winter would help re-freeze the soil and slow the melting of permafrost. But the warmer air might prevent that from happening now…As things warm up, places like Alaska that have a lot of carbon stored in the soil might […]
Ecoss studies the microbial communities of the human body and the implications for disease including STDs and HIV, as well as analyzing the microbial community using bioinformatics, community ecology theory and Bayesian statistical modeling.
Bruce Hungate, Director of Ecoss gave the keynote address to the Goldschmidt Conference in Prague this week for the session, “How do Biogeochemical Cycles Operate on a high-CO2 Planet?” The abstract for Dr. Hungate’s keynote address was entitled “Rising CO2 and the Biogeochemistry of Soil Microbial Ecosystems.”
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has partnered with NAU to implement its Bridge Program. The goal is to increase the number of students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups obtaining graduate degrees in the geosciences. As partners with AGU’s bridge program, NAU faculty help to fulfill this goal by demonstrating […]
ESSTE es una experiencia de tres semestres con oportunidades como pasantías y mentorías para estudiantes de cualquier licenciatura. El programa busca preparar a las próximas generaciones para enfrentarse a desafíos como sequías, incendios e inundaciones. El programa ESSTE fue creado en respuesta a la falta de oportunidades de entrenamiento y […]
Ecological memory stored in a landscape can help an ecosystem recover from disturbances like fire and outbreaks of disease. But what happens when climate warming disrupts that process? How long before ecological memories stored in the warming Arctic are overwritten by new ones, and what does that mean for the […]
Interviewed by STICH Scholar and Ecoss social media specialist Kayla Blair. Meet Vic Monsaint-Queeney, a PhD candidate in Bruce Hungate’s lab! Here, Vic studies bacteria in the soil on the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, where she looks at the different types of nitrogen that these microbes consume. The research involves […]