Secrets of the Soil

Eoin Brodie: How will shifting rainfall patterns affect the soil and the carbon cycle? Microbial ecologist Eoin Brodie leads an effort to understand how communities of soil microbes change as the climate changes.

Janet Jansson: A handful of soil teems with billions of microbes, a few of which could lead to better biofuels or help scientists understand the planet's carbon cycle. Microbial ecologist Janet Jansson is an expert at using "omics" to explore soil's hidden microbial world.

Margaret Torn: Soil holds more carbon than the atmosphere, but scientists aren't sure what will happen to this carbon as the climate changes. Soil scientist Margaret Torn travels the globe, from Alaska to Russia, to find answers to this mystery.

Trent Northen: How do soil microbes adapt to extreme environments? Trent Northen and colleagues are studying desert biological soil crusts to understand how these microbial communities can start and stop their metabolism depending on rain fall.

Moderated by John Harte, who holds a joint professorship in the Energy and Resources Group and the Ecosystem Sciences Division of UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources.