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Current and Recent Research Projects 

 Three students by "top of the World" sign, in Barrow, Alaska

Alaskan Tundra

Microbial responses to altered water table depth in Alaskan tundra

The Lipson laboratory is involved in a project to study the effects of water table manipulation, and to describe seasonal and spatial variation, in microbial communities in Arctic tundra.  This is part of a larger collaborative study with the GCRG and researchers from several different universities (Biocomplexity Associated with the Response of Tundra Carbon Balance to Warming and Drying across Multiple Spatial and Temporal Scales, NSF OPP-0421588)

Aerial view of tundra near Barrow AK

The role of Iron and Humic Substances in anaerobic respiration in Arctic soils

The Lipson lab has also initiated a study of the importance of iron and humic substances as electron acceptors in anerobic respiration in peat soils of the Arctic coastal plain. This study is a collaboration with Dr. Lars Angenent of Cornell University and Dr. Ted Raab of Stanford University (NSF ARC-0808604)

Pumping manifold used to raise water table in Biocomplexity Experiment

The Biocomplexity experiment involves a large-scale water table manipulation in a drained thaw lake basin. The photo above shows a pumping manifold used to bring water to the high water table treatment area.
Graduate Students, Bethany Allen and Mony Jha, measuring various soil conditions at the Biocomplexity experiment site
The topography of the Arctic coastal plain is shaped by ice-wedge polygons, which produce complex, fine-scale variations in soil properties.

Injection of Fe(III) solution in a field experiment

When Fe(III) is injected into soils, it is rapidly reduced to Fe(II) and respiration is stimulated.