Stable isotopes and P cycling in the soil/plant system
In this seminar, hosted by Courtney Giles and Tim George from our Ecological Sciences group, Dr Federica Tamburini (ETH Zurich) will discuss a novel technique that uses oxygen stable isotopes to investigate the P cycle in the soil/plant system.
Abstract
In the soil/plant system, biological processes greatly influence P cycling, but the extent of their impact is still difficult to grasp. The analysis and use of oxygen stable isotopes in phosphate has allowed investigating more deeply the P cycle in the environment. Indeed, oxygen isotopes in phosphate are sensitive to the action of biological processes, i.e. biological uptake, intracellular P cycling, enzymatic processes. In the last years, we have applied this relatively novel technique to the soil/plant system. In this seminar, the theoretical grounds, the analytical and technical advances and problems, together with some case studies and possible future applications will be discussed.
Biography
Dr Tamburini has always studied the phosphorus cycle, first in marine sediments then in terrestrial ecosystems. She has spent 7 years as a researcher in the Group of Plant Nutrition at ETH Zurich, with a primary focus on the development and application of oxygen stable isotopes in phosphate to study P cycling in soils and plants.
- MSc in Geology at the University of Urbino (Italy), 1995
- PhD in Geology at the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland), 1997-2001
- Post-doc at the WHOI, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (MA, USA), 2002-2003
- Senior scientist at the Geological Dept. of the ETH Zurich (Switzerland), 2003-2007
- Senior scientist at the Environmental System Science Dept. of the ETH Zurich (Switzerland), since 2007