PhD in Soil Microbial Ecology

PhD candidate position at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands, investigating impacts of nitrogen deposition and soil acidification on microbial communities and forest vitality./nThe project focuses on how changes in soil microbial diversity affect tree growth, survival, and drought sensitivity in weakly buffered forest ecosystems, and is embedded in a larger nitrogen deposition project measuring and modelling spatial and temporal patterns in nitrogen deposition and air concentrations./nDuties include field work in nitrogen deposition gradients (soil sampling, dendrometer tree growth measurements), and laboratory experiments (genetic (PCR) analyses, PLFA analyses, microbial biomass, soil carbon, respiration and enzymatic activities).