AMES, Iowa — David Myrold, a professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Science at Oregon State University, is the speaker for the 2017 William H. Pierre Memorial Lecture in Soil Science at Iowa State University.
Myrold’s lecture is titled, “Microbial Communities and Nitrogen Cycling in Diverse Soils.” It will be presented at 1:10 p.m. April 14 in 1204 Kildee Hall (Ensminger Room), at 806 Stange Rd. on the ISU campus.
The transformations of nitrogen in soil ecosystems — and the organisms involved in those transformations — have been studied for more than a century. Despite this, research in recent years has shown that the nitrogen cycle is more complex and less understood than once thought. This lecture will explore some of these recent insights into soil nitrogen cycling.
Myrold applies a quantitative approach to the study of soil microorganisms and biogeochemical processes, often using stable isotope and molecular analyses. He teaches courses on soil microbiology, principles of stable isotopes and soil microbial ecology. He has served on the editorial boards of Soil Biology and Biochemistry and ISME Journal, and is the editor-in-chief for the Soil Science Society of America. He is a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and of the Soil Science Society of America, and he was the joint recipient of the Soil Science Research Award of the Soil Science Society of America in 2007.
The lecture series honors the memory of William Pierre (1898-1982) who served agronomic sciences and Iowa State as an administrator, researcher and leader; most notably as the head of its agronomy department from 1938 until 1964. His initial work on the effect of nitrogen fertilizers on soil pH was rewarded with the American Society of Agronomy Nitrogen Research Award in 1931.
The lecture is part of a series through the Sustainability Task Force in the ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and is co-sponsored by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture was established in 1987 through the Iowa Groundwater Protection Act. It is a research and education center at Iowa State created to identify and reduce negative farming impacts and to develop new ways to farm profitably while conserving natural resources. The center’s competitive grants program awards funds to researchers and investigators across Iowa, extending more than 500 competitive grants since 1988. For more information about the Leopold Center, visit the website: www.leopold.iastate.edu.