Keywords

  • biogeochemistry
  • diversity
  • ecological
  • ecological function
  • ecology
  • environmental
  • environmental microbiology
  • evolution
  • function
  • genomic
  • genomics
  • microbial
  • microbial diversity
  • microbial ecology
  • microbial ecology and genomics of soil
  • microbial evolution
  • microbiology
  • nitrogen fixation
  • processes
  • soil
  • soil processes

Buckley, Daniel H

Associate Professor
Microorganisms are the Earth`s firstborn. They were teeming on the land and in the seas for billions of years before the evolution of plants and animals, and their diversity is staggering. Every pinch of soil contains billions of microbes whose activities regulate terrestrial nutrient cycles and influence the evolution of our biosphere. Despite their importance many aspects of soil microbial communities are still a mystery and soil remains a fertile habitat for discovery. My research makes use of genomic tools to examine the microbial communities that live in soils, to explore their diversity, and to delineate the mechanisms by which they influence environmental processes in terrestrial ecosystems.

research

research and scholarship focus

In the broadest terms my research program focuses on issues that relate to soil microbial diversity: its extent, its regulation, and its impact on biogeochemical cycles that regulate soil fertility and influence atmospheric chemistry. My lab is currently using nitrogen fixation as a model system for exploring the role of microbial diversity on ecosystem function. Free-living diazotrophs in soils provide the dominant natural source of fixed N in many terrestrial systems, and yet we know remarkably little about the ecology and evolution of these microorganisms. We are using a novel approach that combines Stable Isotope Probing (SIP) with environmental genomics to examine genomic information from non-cultivated diazotrophs. This research will significantly advance our understanding of the environmental mechanisms that regulate the diversity and activity of free-living N-fixing microorganisms in soils and will provide insights on the ecology and evolution of a microbial process that is of central importance to the global N cycle.

research areas

affiliations

faculty appointment in

member of graduate field

teaching

teaching focus

CSS410: The GMO Debate: Environmental Impacts|This course covers issues pertaining to the agricultural use of transgenic organisms with emphasis on evaluating their potential environmental impacts. Students learn to critically evaluate the ecological risks and benefits associated with agricultural practices and the impact of transgenic organisms in agroecosystems. ||CSS674: Environmental Genomics|Genomics opens new avenues for exploring interactions between organisms and their environment. This course focuses on the use of genomic tools to provide insight on processes occurring at individual, population, and ecosystem scales which govern the response of biological systems to environmental change. ||CSS684: Topics in Soil Microbial Ecology|This seminar course reviews current and groundbreaking literature in soil microbial ecology with topics that encompass: microbial biogeography and diversity, biogeochemistry, microbial feedbacks on plant communities, gene exchange and evolution in soils, soil microbial genomics, bioremediation, and relationships between community structure & ecological function in soils.

teaches

service

outreach focus

In collaboration with the Cornell Institute for Biology Teachers and other faculty at Cornell I organize and teach a summer workshop for high school science teachers. The workshop, “The Microbial Earth”, is a week long laboratory based experience that focuses on the role of microorganisms in the natural world. The workshop is designed to provide teachers with practical tools and open ended laboratory exercises from the microbial world that they can use to get their students excited about science.

background

publications

speaker at Cornell event

Keywords: biogeochemistry, diversity, ecological, ecological function, ecology, environmental, environmental microbiology, evolution, function, genomic, genomics, microbial, microbial diversity, microbial ecology, microbial ecology and genomics of soil, microbial evolution, microbiology, nitrogen fixation, processes, soil, soil processes