The National Science Foundation recently announced support for a variety of studies aimed at understanding Earth’s biodiversity, including a project led by UT’s Frank Loeffler.
Loeffler, the joint UT–Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair for Microbiology and Civil and Environmental Engineering, is researching the role of microbes in controlling emissions of nitrous oxide—also known as laughing gas—from the ground.
“As nitrous oxide destroys the ozone layer and is a greenhouse gas, gaining a better understanding of how it is released naturally and its overall effect on the environment would be a step toward better controlling it,” said Loeffler, who holds UT appointments in the Department of Microbiology in the College of Arts and Sciences and in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Tickle College of Engineering, as well as an adjunct appointment in UT’s Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science and an appointment in ORNL’s Biosciences Division.
