Kari Dunfield is Canada's Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology of Agro-ecosystems and one of Canada's premier scientists working at the intersection of microbiology, ecology and soil science.
The global population is expected to reach 9 billion people by 2050, and agricultural systems are projected to expand their contribution to food, fuel, feed and fibre production. However, intensive agriculture can cause major environmental challenges, through greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution.
Understanding the role of soil microorganisms is crucial to ensure we can sustainably produce enough food to feed a growing population. Dr. Dunfield’s use of cutting-edge molecular techniques to investigate challenging issues related to agricultural practices, environmental change and soil biodiversity have propelled her work to the forefront of her field.
Her goal is to improve our understanding of soil ecosystem services in order to promote the development of sustainable farming practices that protect the environment while meeting the increasing requirements for food, feed and biofuels.
Kari Dunfield
Canada's Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology of Agro-ecosystems
Our Research
Kari Dunfield is Canada's Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology of Agro-ecosystems.
Best Management Practices for Agriculture
Should we Harvest Corn for Biofuels?
Check out our research examining how removing corn residue for biofuels affects microbial communities associated with the greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide.
Deanna Nemeth, Claudia Wagner-Riddle and Kari Dunfield. 2014. Abundance and gene expression in nitrifier and denitrifier communities associated with a field scale spring thaw N2O flux event. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 73: 1-9.
Inside the Root Microbiome
How Plants and Endophytes Interact
From our paper- Gaiero, McCall, Thompson, Day, Best, Dunfield. 2013. Inside the Root microbiome: bacterial root endophytes and growth promotion. Am. J. Botany 100:1738-1750.