This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Microbial biology for FY2004. The fellowship supports training and research on the basic biology of protozoan, microalgal, fungal, archaeal, bacterial and viral species that are not generally considered to be model organisms. Further, it provides opportunities for recent doctoral recipients to obtain additional training in microbial biology, to gain research experience under the sponsorship of established scientists, and to broaden their scientific horizons beyond the research experiences during the undergraduate and graduate training. These fellowships are further designed to assist new scientists to direct their research efforts across traditional disciplinary lines and to avail themselves of unique research resources, sites, and facilities, including foreign locations.
The research and training plan is entitled "How microbial community diversity affects carbon cycling in Brazilian Terra Preta Dark Earth soils." The research objective is to understand how soil microorganisms affect carbon sequestration and mineralization in anthropogenic Terra Preta soils in the humid tropics of Brazil. FISH, T-RFLP, and PLFA analysis are being used to assess Terra Preta soil microbial abundance and diversity, while Stable Isotope Probing is being used to investigate carbon fate in microcosms containing isotopically-labeled plant material.
