Romy Chakraborty, Senior Scientist and Department Head, 
Molecular Ecology and Biogeochemistry
Earth and Environmental Sciences Area
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)

Microbial Consortia for Ecosystem Services

Abstract: Microbial communities perform critical ecosystem services by driving carbon and nutrient cycling, supporting plant health, and maintaining ecosystem health. Despite advances in sequencing, culturomics, and multi-omics that reveal diversity and metabolic potential, natural soil microbiomes remain hard to predict or manage due to their complexity and environmental variability. Synthetic microbial ecology leverages reduced-complexity, controllable defined consortia to test predictable microbiome interventions for soil restoration, plant health, and long-term ecosystem function. We will discuss general principles of constructing and using synthetic communities, and the strategies to probe microbial contributions to plant responses when exposed to environmental and chemical stressors for understanding ecosystem responses through cross-disciplinary connections.
 

Bio:
Dr. Romy Chakraborty is Head of the Molecular Ecology and Biogeochemistry Department in the Earth & Environmental Sciences Area. As an environmental microbiologist, Chakraborty has pioneered identification of unique microbes mediating critical carbon and nitrogen metabolisms in diverse ecosystems.

Dr. Chakraborty is involved in extensive outreach and mentorship, much of which is focused on diversity and inclusion in STEM, her efforts have led to very positive impacts in the community, at the Laboratory, and on the career trajectories of many diverse, early career scientists.