Spring GLBRC sampling

ShadeLab was in the field this morning for our first sampling day of our 2016 field season.

We have an Early Opportunity Project with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center to determine the diversity and dynamics of bacterial and archaeal communities that inhabit the surfaces of switchgrass and miscanthus leaves (the phyllosphere). Switchgrass and miscanthus are cellulosic biofuel crops that are being assessed for ethanol production. We collect soils and leaves at the GLBRC Sustainability Project's intensive cropping site at Michigan State's Kellogg Biological Station, and use high-throughput sequencing and cultivation to understand the role that microorganisms play in maintaining plant health from the "above-ground" perspective.

Keara Grady, Dr. Sang-Hoon Lee, and Prof. Ashley Shade helped with the field work!