Department of Earth and Environmental Science

Alain F. Plante

Research team

Our research team seeks to characterize the quantity, quality and function of organic matter in surface soils from various ecosystems.

The "Carbon Collective" circa Summer 2011. Back row: Jose, Wenting, Claire-Marie, Anarmaa, Alain, Hao. Front row: Estelle, Maddie, Aurora.

Current Team members:

Postdocs:

Clément Peltre (coming soon)

PhD students:

Maddie Stone (started Fall 2010) Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory, organic matter stabilization in contrasting parent materials

Anarmaa Sharkhuu (started Fall 2008) Soil C biogeochemistry in northern Mongolia

Wenting Feng (started Fall 2008) CSAT3 - Physico-chemical and biochemical controls on soil carbon saturation behavior

Undergraduate researchers:

Elizabeth Wordell (Summer 2010, AY2010-2011) Microresp and C-loading sorption methodology experiments

Past Team members:

Jose Manuel Fernandez (Postdoc, Fall 2008-Summer 2011) characterization of soil organic matter quality by thermal analysis

Estelle Ancelet (visiting research assistant, Summer 2011) development of thermal analysis database

Claire-Marie Gherardi (visiting Masters student, Summer 2011) organic matter evolution in long-term bare fallow

Stephanie Scott (Undergrad, Summer 2009-Spring 2010) carbon analyses in soil, water & organic wastes

Ioana Aron (Undergrad, Spring 2009) method development for aqueous TOC and TN analysis

Chukuemeka Oje (Undergrad, Fall 2008) method development for soil respiration

Amanda Conover (Undergrad, Summer 2008) CSAT3 - Physico-chemical and biochemical controls on soil carbon saturation behavior, collaborating with Anthony Aufdenkamp at Stroud Water Research Center

Inigo Virto (Postdoc, Fall 2007) Worked to separate soils using a sequential density fractionation technique with sodium polytungstate (SPT)

Aslihan Sen (Undergrad, Summer 2007) NSF REU Supplement to “Vulnerability of soil organic matter to temperature changes: Exploring constraints due to protection mechanisms and microbial community structure”

Charlie Slominski (Undergrad, Summer 2007) Penn Provost’s Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program, worked on “Vulnerability of soil organic matter to temperature changes”