Edith Hammer is Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer in Microbial Ecology at University of Lund, Sweden, with strong interests in the impact of microstructures and microhabitat conditions on microbial processes, and the mycorrhizal symbiosis. She leads the branch for climate and C-cycle science of the research environment BECC in Sweden. During recent years her group has developed microfluidic model systems called soil chips that allow for in-situ visualization of microbial communities, and their interactions with their microenvironment and each other.