The Nüsslein Group
Microbial Ecology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
My research focus is to determine how microbial diversity changes in response to ecosystem conversion from rainforest to agriculture.
The Amazon Forest plays an essential role in global ecological processes, maintaining the largest fresh water bodies of the world, controlling temperature and precipitation, and balancing the flux of atmospheric gases. It is also the largest biological reservoir of animal and plant species on Earth and the target of decades of biodiversity research. Yet it is among the least understood of the Earth’s ecosystems regarding bacterial diversity. Amazon soil microbial diversity is especially poorly characterized, with the few published studies presenting starkly conflicting views.
It is especially imperative to characterize the microbial diversity of the Amazon rainforest because this ecosystem is under great threat. An increasing demand for grain, fibers, and biofuel has accelerated the conversion of the Amazon rainforest to agriculture, creating a new frontier of deforestation of 1 million sq. km. This shift is predicted to have significant effects on global emissions of greenhouse gases, global warming, soil degradation, and water resources. Understanding the consequences of this conversion will require insight into the diversity of rainforest microbes and their response to deforestation. This project, termed a Microbial Observatory, will establish baseline estimates of soil bacterial diversity at broad coverage in the Amazon rainforest, and will determine how microbial diversity changes in response to ecosystem.
My working hypothesis is that agricultural development reduces microbial diversity in the Amazon rainforest, qualitatively similar to the documented loss experienced by plant and animal diversity.
B.S. Department of Genetic Engineering, Sooncheounhwang University, Asan, Korea (1991-1995).
M.S. Department of Biology, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea (1995-1997), Major: Microbiology.
Researcher (1997-1998) Jinyang Industrial Co., LTD. ATT. Environmental Innovation Lab.
Post Master Internship (1998-1999) HYUNDAI Engineering & Construction Co. LTD.
Ph.D. Department of Life Science (Biology), Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea (2001-2004). Major: Environmental Ecology.
Postdoctoral Researcher (2004 – 2009) Environmental Biotechnology Research Center, Korean Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Korea.
Postdoctoral Researcher (2009-Present), Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA USA. Major: Microbiology.
Baek, K-H and K. Nüsslein, "Effects of Cometabolism on Aerobic 1,2-dibromomethane Degradation", 26th Annual International Conference: Soils, Sediments, Water and Energy, Amherst, MA, October 2010.
Baek, K-H and K. Nüsslein, "Land Use Alters The Structure of Methane-Oxidizing", ISME-13, Seattle, WA, August 2010.
