Welcome to the Hoagland Soil Microbial Ecology Lab

Sky garden at Eskanazi Hospital in Indianapolis

The long-term goal of our lab is to support the continued growth and long-term sustainability of local specialty crop (e.g. vegetables, herbs, fruit) production systems. Diversifying local agricultural systems with high value specialty crops and integrating crop production into urban centers can provide new sources of income, improve human health and well-being, and bring a broad set of other environmental and social benefits. However, to achieve these benefits, farmers must deal with soils that are degraded and potentially contaminated. They also need to able to develop sustainable nutrient management plans, keep up with pathogens that are constantly evolving to overcome existing control strategies, and adapt to changing climates to protect their crops and the environment. Finally, they need crop varieties that are best adapted to local production and environmental constraints, and will yield produce that is unique, nutritious and safe to compete in the local marketplace.

To help farmers overcome these challenges, our lab studies soil microbial ecology and beneficial plant-microbial relationships. The soil microbial community regulates many critical agroecosystems services including nutrient cycling, pathogen dynamics, and pollutant detoxification. Moreover, some soil microbes can form intimate associations with plants, helping them acquire nutrients and better withstand assault by pathogens and abiotic stresses caused by factors such as heavy metals, nanoplastics, drought, salt and heat. New genomic tools developed in the last decade have greatly expanded awareness of the abundance and diversity of soil and plant microbiomes. However, understanding of how individual taxa evolve and proliferate in agricultural systems, or mechanistically interact with plants to improve their health and performance, are in their infancy. By overcoming these knowledge gaps, we are helping farmers identify practical approaches to promote beneficial microbes on their farms, resulting in lower input costs, produce that is safe and nutritious, and a healthier environment.