The main focus of my PhD studies is to understand the microbial temperature dependences in soil, if and how they will feedback to climate change. 

I use environmental gradients, field warming experiments (winter warming, summer warming, and heatwave simulation) in the Subarctic and temperate systems, and laboratory incubations to assess microbial responses to altered temperatures. 

To determine how the temperature responses of the microbial community change, I assess the temperature dependence of bacterial growth, fungal growth, and microbial respiration. By measuring both carbon (C) uptake for biomass formation (growth) and C release (respiration), we are also able to determine the carbon use efficiency (CUE). With that, we can better understand if soils become sinks or sources of C under changing climate.