WP 4.2 - Postdoc (Richter)

Control of microbial activity and growth in thawing permafrost soil 

Duration of contract: 3.2 years 
Planned starting date: First half of 2024 
Place of work: University of Vienna

Main supervisor: Andreas Richter (CV | Lab Homepage) 
Supervision team: Matthias Horn, Christina Kaiser, Christine Moissl-Eichinger

Project description:

In-situ deep soil warming and permafrost thawing experiments are exceptionally rare. The Postdoc in this work package will have the crucial responsibility of establishing a permafrost thawing experiment in the North American Arctic, in collaboration with partners in the US. This in-situ experiment aims to investigate the composition and function of microbial communities across all three domains of life, and viruses. It forms part of a larger endeavor to comprehend the fate of soil organic matter upon thawing in a future climate. 
The Postdoc's specific focus will be on unraveling the top-down and bottom-up controls governing microbial activity, growth, and turnover during thawing and warming. They will employ innovative isotope methods utilizing 18O and 2H and stable isotope probing. Additionally, the Postdoc will measure time series of community processes in carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur cycling using multiomics approaches and pool dilution experiments (13C, 15N, 33P, and 35S).

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