Anna Herzberger
Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability
MSU Manly Miles Bldg., rm 115Major Advisor:
Jianguo "Jack" Liu
Research:
Anna's dissertation research combines telecoupling, network analysis, agent based modeling with microbial ecology to study the impact international soybean trade, specifically imported soybeans from Brazil and the USA, are having on domestic soybean production in China.
Imported soybeans are cheaper than domestically produced soybeans, which disincentives Chinese farmers from planting soybeans (a legume). Areas that were originally planted with soybeans are being converted to rice and corn (grasses) as they are more profitable crops. In order to quantify the impact of these changes on the soil-microbial community, our research team traveled around Heilongjiang, the far northeastern province, surveying farmers and sampling their soil.
Read Anna's blog here.