About Us
We're Team Soil, an undergraduate research team under the Gemstone Honors College at the University of Maryland - College Park. Mentored by Dr. Mengqiang Zhu, our team is investigating the impact of saltwater intrusion on the molecular structure of soil organic carbon via high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry. Our research focuses primarily on using novel machine learning models to interpret mass spectrometry data from local soil samples. As there is highly limited data in this field, we hope that our research will lay down substantial groundwork for future studies.
The Importance of Soil Carbon
Soil is the largest carbon sink on Earth, storing more soil than all other sinks combined. This shapes soil as a key factor in preventing climate change, in addition to the various benefits it brings to all ecosystems. It is the epicenter of microbes, which act as important contributors to biomass decomposition and the carbon cycle. Saltwater intrusion is hypothesized to alter the activity of some microbes, resulting in increased decomposition rates in addition to other unknown changes. Our research will identify molecules indicative of changes in microbial activity to better understand how saltwater intrusion impacts microbes in soil.
Our Approach
Our samples will be obtained from both affected and unaffected soils on the eastern shore of Maryland.
Our samples will be obtained from both affected and unaffected soils on the eastern shore of Maryland.