Title: Assistant Professor of Geosciences and The High Meadows Environmental Institute
Position: Faculty, Department of Geosciences and The High Meadows Environmental Institute (HMEI) at Princeton University
Group: Zhang Research Laboratory
Area(s): Geochemistry, Microbiology, Biogeochemistry
Research Summary: Prof. Zhang is an environmental microbiologist jointly appointed in the Department of Geosciences and The High Meadows Environmental Institute. Zhang’s research aims at providing a mechanistic understanding of how microbial metabolism influences biogeochemical cycling and climate in modern and ancient environments. To determine the key parameters explaining microbial activities and their signatures in the rock record, she applies tools from microbial physiology, molecular ecology, and stable isotope geochemistry to research in lab and field settings.
Keywords: biogeochemistry, climate
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“Soil on a chip” experiments conducted by Princeton researchers mimic the interactions between soils, carbon compounds and soil bacteria, producing new evidence that large carbon molecules can potentially escape the soil much faster than previously thought. In this microscopy image, soil bacteria (red) grow around aggregates of glucose (green) that stick to pores in a transparent synthetic clay. Image by Judy Q. Yang
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