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Our Projects
Understanding and predicting the terrestrial carbon cycle is challenging. It involves understanding the core processes that drive it and measuring these processes across scales, from tiny soil particles to entire ecosystems. Much of the terrestrial carbon cycle activity occurs at the soil surface in the vadose zone, where conditions shift across spaces and seasons due to complex interactions among physical, chemical, and biological factors. Our goal is to highlight the primary force behind the carbon cycle—the water cycle—by exploring how it connects with carbon movement across the land at various scales, from local to global.
Phase distribution in natural porous media
Water is a key driver of life in soils—it affects how nutrients move, how microbes function, and how ecosystems cycle carbon and other elements. To better understand these processes, we use advanced, non-invasive tools like micro-CT scans and microscopes to visualize where water is located in different types of soil under various environmental conditions. These observations help us uncover general patterns—scaling laws—that describe how air and water are arranged in soil. We then use these patterns to improve models that predict how soils influence the broader environment.
Interaction between organic matter and microorganisms
Soil microorganisms are key players in the land carbon cycle, responsible for the largest natural release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. They break down plant roots and fallen leaves for energy, helping to drive the flow of carbon through ecosystems. To understand this process more deeply, we use high-resolution tools to observe what happens at the tiny pore scale—where roots, organic matter, and microbes interact. Our research focuses on uncovering how these interactions shape the soil environment around roots, especially as conditions like moisture and temperature change.
Terrestrial carbon cycle under changing environmental conditions
One of the biggest challenges of our time is the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide, which drives global warming. To better understand the carbon cycle and how it may change in the future, we use climate chambers in the lab to carefully control environmental conditions. With advanced sensors, we track how carbon flows—through photosynthesis, respiration, and other processes—and how it is stored in soil, plants, and microorganisms. This helps us explore how different ecosystems respond to climate change, giving us crucial insights for predicting and managing our planet’s future.
Fluid flow and (bio-)reactive transport in porous media
Fluids moving through soil and rock play a vital role in both nature and industry—from delivering nutrients to plants, to cleaning up pollution, storing carbon dioxide, recovering oil, and generating clean energy. But understanding how these fluids mix, react, and move through complex underground spaces is a big challenge. In our research, we explore how water and chemicals behave as they flow through the tiny pores and cracks in soil and rock. We study how they interact with solids, with other fluids, and with biological processes—using both detailed experiments and computer models across different scales.
Machine learning approach to assess the terrestrial ecosystem response to climate change
Data-driven approaches, such as machine learning, allow us to estimate the terrestrial carbon cycle at the global scale. We integrate information from diverse sources—including flux tower measurements, satellite remote sensing, soil properties, mineral composition, and microbial community data—to build predictive models. These models help us identify key patterns and drivers of carbon dynamics. Our aim is to create simple, cost-effective tools for monitoring and forecasting carbon cycle changes across different ecosystems worldwide.
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions...
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