Listening In On the Language of Soil

Dry Soil
UArizona UBRP

As microbes and plants live, they cycle nutrients, respond to stress, and adapt. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) gases are released as a byproduct of these processes. Indirectly, VOCs send information about how, where, and why they were created due to them being process specific. Dr. Laura Meredith, an assistant professor for the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, is listening in on what’s driving these plant-microbe interactions. Dr. Meredith’s Lab, studies how the gaseous subset of these VOCs are processed and what they mean for soil microbiome health and composition.