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Enviro Lunch is a weekly seminar series launched in 2010 by UC Merced environmental science faculty groups to bring early-career and established scientists from our region and beyond for conversations on research findings and the practice of science. Starting Fall 2022, Enviro Lunch also satisfies the requirements for ESS 190.

ESS 190: Undergraduate Seminar
  Every Monday at Noon (12:00 PM)
  SSB 170
Instructors: TBD

Fall 2022

Hosts: Anna Jurusik and Teamrat A. Ghezzehei

Monday, August 29, 2022

Planning and Orientation

Organizers and Coordinators
UC Merced

Zoom

Abstract

Bio


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Monday, September 05, 2022

No Seminar

Labor Day Holiday

Abstract

Bio


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Monday, September 12, 2022

TBD

Chelsea Arnold
CalTeach, University of California-Merced

SSB 170

Abstract

Bio


Link

Spring 2022

Hosts: KJ Min and Manisha Dolui

Monday, January 31, 2022

Root mediated weathering

Mariela Garcia Arrendondo
University of Massachusets-Amherst

Zoom Abstract Bio

Abstract

Soil matrix properties influence microbial behaviors that underlie nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas production, and soil formation. However, the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of soils makes it challenging to untangle the effects of different matrix properties on microbial behaviors. To address this challenge, we developed a tunable artificial soil recipe and used these materials to study the abiotic mechanisms driving soil microbial growth and communication. When we used standardized matrices with varying textures to culture gas-reporting biosensors, we found that a Gram-negative bacterium (Escherichia coli) grew best in synthetic silt soils, remaining active over a wide range of soil matric potentials, while a Gram-positive bacterium (Bacillus subtilis) preferred sandy soils, sporulating at low water potentials. Soil texture, mineralogy, and alkalinity all attenuated the bioavailability of an acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) signaling molecule that controls community-level microbial behaviors. Texture controlled the timing of AHL sensing, while AHL bioavailability was decreased 105-fold by mineralogy and 103-fold by alkalinity. Finally, we built artificial soils with a range of complexities that converge on the properties of one Mollisol. As artificial soil complexity increased to more closely resemble the Mollisol, microbial behaviors approached those occurring in the natural soil, with the notable exception of organic matter.

Bio

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Monday, February 07, 2022

Rethinking carbon and nitrogen isotope fractionation during soil organic matter decomposition

Michael Philben
Hope College

Zoom

Abstract

Bio


Link
Monday, February 14, 2022

The role of coastal marine sediments in carbon cycling from local to global scales

Alyssa Griffin
University of California, Davis

In Person

Abstract

Bio


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Monday, February 21, 2022

No Seminar

President's Day Holiday

Abstract

Bio


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Monday, February 28, 2022

Density fractionation and soil carbon stabilization

Katherine Heckman
USDA

Abstract

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Link