MPF Webinar- Opening the Black Box: Soil Microbial Complexity- Part 1: Foundations of Soil Microbial Ecology in Prairies (VIRTUAL)

Soil is far more than a growing medium; it is a living system filled with unseen organisms that quietly regulate how ecosystems function. Join Dr. Sam Lord, soil ecologist and Assistant Research Professor at the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry, for a two-part webinar series where we will explore how diverse soil microbes, most of which are still unknown to science, interact with plants and their environment to move nutrients, store carbon, and help ecosystems remain stable through change.

By comparing native prairies with managed agricultural soils and using modern tools that let us see both who is there and what they are doing, this work opens the “black box” of soil life. Together, these talks show that soil is not a static backdrop for plants, but an active, dynamic frontier where biological interactions belowground shape the health and resilience of landscapes above ground.

This free webinar, to be held via Zoom, will include a presentation and a live question-and-answer session. The webinar will be recorded, and a link to the recording will be sent to all registrants and posted to the MPF YouTube channel.