Boreal ecosystems, carbon, and microbes
An aerial view of boreal Quebec, August, 2016.
The boreal biome covers much of Northern America and Eurasia, from ~50 to 70 degrees north. Of that vast area of land, much of it is covered in water. These inland waters are key players in the global carbon cycle and their high degree of connectivity with the surrounding terrestrial environment makes them excellent places to study land-water-atmosphere carbon interactions. Dissolved organic matter is abundant in these systems - they are ideal places to study the relationship between microorganisms and dissolved organic matter. My work focuses on the use of high-resolution molecular characterizations of dissolved organic matter combined with detailed data on microbial community structure and function across ecological continuums. I use these combined datasets to further our understanding of the coupling between microorganisms and their carbon sources.
