Linta Reji, University of Chicago,
Wed 16 October 2024, 2pm BST
Soil Moisture Controls on Microbial hydrogen Uptake
Uptake of atmospheric hydrogen (H2) by soil microbes is the largest and the most uncertain term in the global H2 budget. Reducing the uncertainty around the sink estimate is critical for predicting the climate impacts of an H2-based energy infrastructure, especially under global change scenarios. This uncertainty primarily results from the poorly constrained relationship between soil moisture variability and H2 uptake rates. In this talk, I will present results from a laboratory experiment where we identify critical soil moisture thresholds that impart a strong control on microbial H2 uptake.
Linta Reji is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. Her work focuses on the intersection of microbial ecology and biogeochemistry. Prior to starting her own group at UChicago, she was a postdoc in the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University. She obtained her Ph.D. from the Department of Earth System Sciences at Stanford University.