Lucy Greenfield
Room details
2nd Floor ECW Building
Qualifications
- MEnv, BSc Environmental Science (International), University of Leeds
PhD Title (or subject area)
Widening the bottleneck of the terrestrial nitrogen cycle.
Supervisors
Dr Paul Hill, Professor David Jones
Describe your research
Overview:
Nitrogen availability represents one of the key regulators of primary productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. However, emerging evidence is challenging the most recent paradigms of N cycling in plant-microbial-plant systems. The project will investigate plant and microbial protease release used in order to accelerate N cycling as method of priming. The project will utilize soil zymography, stable and radioactive isotope probing and proteomic approaches to explore protease diversity and the mechanistic basis of protease activity in soil.
Research Interests
- Soil-plant-microbe relationships
- Nitrogen cycling
- Sustainable agriculture
Professional Affiliations
- British Society of Soil Science
- British Ecological Society
Biography
I recently graduated with an Integrated Master's in Environmental Science from the University of Leeds achieving a First class. My final year research project focused on investigating the competition for nitrogen between Australian sub-tropical tree species and grass. My research project provided me with the skills of stable isotope probing to trace elements through the soil into the plant. This propelled me into my PhD project to investigate the soil-plant-microbe system focusing on nitrogen.