The toluene completely degraded overnight. I got a sample of that soil and put it in the bioreactors. We have a pond here that all the roads drain into. All the oil from the cars was washing down into the lake. Geoff Smith who was looking at biodegradation of toluene in a lake in Mexico. Through a fellowship I had at New Mexico State University, I was put in a lab with Dr. At what point did you fall in love with microbes?ĭAVID C. Interviewed by Tracy Frisch Microbes in ActionĪCRES U.S.A. Currently, he is experimenting with this compost as a seed inoculant and working to expand the scope of this critical research through collaborations with other interested researchers. Johnson went on to demonstrate the remarkable power of his compost to dramatically boost crop growth and carbon sequestration in soil, which correlates with its high fungal to bacterial ratio. Previous researchers on the project had only been able to make highly saline composts that proved harmful to plants. Johnson, who once farmed as a homesteader in Alaska, says he was once “an NPK junkie” but considers himself to be “13-years reformed.”Ĭharged with finding a way to process manure from factory dairy farms that would be beneficial to cropland, he and his wife - and behind the scenes collaborator - Hui-Chun Su designed a bioreactor for producing fungal-rich compost. He credits a fellowship program that placed undergraduate students in different labs with sparking his fascination with the composition of microbial communities as a graduate student. With his first advanced degree in hand, he got a job at New Mexico State University, where he was going to school and currently has an appointment in the College of Engineering. After completing his undergraduate degree, Johnson kept going, earning his Masters in 2004 and Ph.D. He said a path opened up and opportunities kept coming his way. He planned to use his education “to do something different for the other half of life,” though what he didn’t know. At age 51 he left a rewarding career as a builder, specializing in custom homes for artists, to complete his undergraduate degree. Johnson didn’t come to science until later in life.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |