New members

Jure Zrim and Mina Kiani started their Phd studies on soil health related topics: Jure is studying the effects of organic amendments on soil biota, plant growth and nitrous oxide emission, and Mina is developing practices on how to use sediments from lakes undergoing restoration in agriculture. Good luck! Well, a big group of supervisors (Priit, Olga, Asko, Juha and Petri) may be an advantage or not…

 

Mina, Jure and Honghong

Soil health in China

In September I started to work part time in Zhejiang Agriculture & Forestry University, Lin’an, Hangzhou, China. Quite close to the Finnish dream of living in the center by the lake; less than 15 min from home to office by foot, and the scenery on the way is not bad at all… The research focus is on soil microbiology and soil health, and I teach undergraduate and graduate students. The soil color is different, yet it is as sticky as in Viikki.

East Lake at dawn...

East Lake at dawn…

...and at daylight

…and at daylight

"Protect the environment, everybody's responsible!"

“Protect the environment, everybody’s responsible!”

Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Carbon Cycling in Forest Ecosystems and Carbon Sequestration

Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Carbon Cycling in Forest Ecosystems and Carbon Sequestration

 

Honghong and Petri participated in the Microbiology and the Environment -conference in Suzhou, China, organized by Cold Spring Harbor Asia. Quite small a conference, which made interaction both on and off venue smooth and easy! Inspiring talks and encouraging discussions, seems that we’re on the right track!

A report (in Chinese) including summaries of the invited speakers’ presentations is at http://www.bio4p.com/report/13553.html

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"Se mikä pääsi karkuun oli itse asiassa paljon pienempi"

“Se mikä pääsi karkuun oli itse asiassa paljon pienempi”

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Our new subproject

MSc student Li Fangzhou started his thesis study by sweating at the Viikki farm. The hard work will not be wasted; in the end he should have a lot of new knowledge on the diversity of rhizobia in nodules and in soil. Good luck!

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