School of Humanities and Sciences
Showing 21-30 of 129 Results
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Christopher M. Dundas
Postdoctoral Scholar, Biology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsSoil can have an enormous impact on climate change mitigation, as atmospheric CO2 is captured and stored in large quantities by soil organic matter. Plants mediate carbon sequestration by transferring aboveground photosynthesis products to belowground roots. This carbon is stabilized into soil pools by root growth/biomass turnover, exudation of organic compounds, and metabolization by soil microbes. Crops bioengineered to increase soil carbon input could boost net CO2 capture and improve agricultural productivity (e.g., via elevated water and nutrient availability). However, genetic engineering targets that control carbon exchange from roots to soil remain poorly defined. Since carbon distribution within plants is controlled by sugar metabolization and transport, genes that alter these processes may also regulate carbon input to root-proximal soil (i.e., the rhizosphere). At Stanford, Christopher will study how these genes affect soil carbon input by Setaria viridis, a model energy grass that is a promising sustainable fuel source. Leveraging high throughput root imaging technology and genetic circuit design, he will construct root-associating bacterial strains and transgenic Setaria that allow researchers to measure/modulate sugar flux from root systems. These living sensors/actuators will be used to determine genetic design rules of soil carbon input at the root-rhizosphere interface. Results will inform engineering of biofertilizer bacteria and functional plant genes that can increase carbon release into soils by other food- and energy-relevant crops.
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Michelle María Early Capistrán
Postdoctoral Scholar, Biology
BioMichelle María Early Capistrán is a David H. Smith Conservation Fellow at the Crowder Lab. Her transdisciplinary research focuses on working collaboratively with coastal communities to improve conservation practice by integrating Local Ecological Knowledge and marine ecology. She was originally trained as a Cultural Anthropologist and holds an M.S. and PhD in Marine Science and Limnology (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM). For over a decade, she has collaborated with rural fishing communities in the Baja California peninsula to understand long-term changes in the abundance of endangered and culturally important green turtles (Chelonia mydas). She will work with Prof. Crowder, in collaboration with Jeff Seminoff of the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, to develop species distribution model for green turtles under climate change by integrating Local Ecological Knowledge and Citizen/Community Science.
