2007 Grossman J.M., Farmers' understanding of soil processes. Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA). Issue title: "Ecological Processes at Work" 22(4):24.
2006 Book chapter, Thies J.E. and Grossman J.M., The Soil Habitat and Soil
Ecology.
Soil Biology and
Biochemistry, 2005
[pdf]
Second Annual Workshop " Soil Microbial Ecology Techniques
for use in the Tropics: (English); (Portuguese)
Applied Soil Ecology, 2005 [pdf]
Journal of College Science Teaching, 2004
[pdf]
Geoderma special issue on Ethnopedology,
2003 [pdf] |
|
In the summer of 2008 I will start a new position as Assistant Professor of Soil Fertility of Organic Cropping Systems at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. As there is still much to understand about how to effectively manage legume cover crops in orgainc systems, my research will focus on cover crop rhizobia ecology and effects of agroecosystem management on soil microbial populations. I will design a new course in Soil Agroecology, which will be taught for the first time in 2009. I welcome prospective students inerested in organic farming and agroecosystem ecology to contact me for more information on working in my laboratory.
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
Fulbright Scholar
MacArthur Fellow
(see my C.V. for full
list of awards)
My teaching interests include Ecological and Sustainable Agriculture, Microbial Ecology, and Environmental Biology, especially as
they relate to the world's soils and their ecology.
Our SPAN Study Abroad Program student
thesis descriptions (Reflections from SPAN 2003; page
3 pdf)
How one grows coffee makes a big difference
in the quality of the environment and the lives of the
farmers
Frequently
Asked Questions |
| RESEARCH INTERESTS : My research asks the general question ‘How do the biodiversity and ecology of soil organisms affect nutrient cycling and plant growth in agroecosystems?’ My major research projects to date have explored the role of such soil organisms in indigenous farming systems found in the tropics. My dissertation research concerned soil ecology, farmer knowledge of nutrient cycling, and nitrogen fixation in organic coffee agroecosystems in Chiapas, Mexico. My postdoctoral research investigated the microbial community composition of a unique anthropogenic soil in the Brazilian Amazon prized for its fertility, called “Terra Preta do Indio”, characterized by unusually high soil C contents, cation exchange capacity, high nutrient stocks, and concentrations of archeological artifacts and charcoal. Recently I have began work for the first time on domestic soils (literally!). In a project funded through the USDA Intergrated Organic program, my Cornell colleagues and I will assess nitrogen fixation in cover crop species used in New York farming systems. |
