Now at Penn State
Breeding for healthy soils: importance of rhizosphere microbes and functions
Email: megli@ucdavis.edu
Education
- PhD – Weed Sciences, Department of Crop Sciences (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Spring 2017)
- MSc – Rhizosphere Ecology, Department of Plant Nutrition (China Agricultural University, Fall 2012)
- BSc – Plant Nutrition, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences (China Agricultural University, 2010))
Research Interests
I am interested in understanding ecosystem services that rhizosphere processes can provide to agricultural systems. In particular, my work will be focusing on rhizosphere functioning as affected by management in irrigated tomato. My goal is to conduct multiscale experimental and quantitative approaches to understand the impact of different aspects of rhizosphere ecology on soil nutrient cycling, rhizosphere microbial activities and their linkages to crop productivity under optimal and stress conditions. I am also interested in areas of sustainable agriculture, including intercropping systems and integrated weed management.