SRP Associate Director Raina Maier was an invited keynote speaker at the 2010 Brazilian FertBio

Sept. 22, 2010

SRP Associate Director Raina Maier was an invited keynote speaker at the 2010 Brazilian FertBio (Soil Science) meetings in Guarapari, Espirito Santo, Sept. 13-17, 2010.  She presented “Microbial diversity and community structure in oligotrophic environments”, discussing research on mine tailings and desert environments.  She also visited and presented this work at the University of Vicosa in Minas Gerais.  She had the opportunity to travel through central and east central Brazil seeing mining and agriculture.  Two of the amazing sites are shown in the photos.  On the left is Lizard Rock, named for the huge outcropping in the shape of a lizard, and right is a eucalyptus forest which are a very common site driving through Brazil.  Eucalyptus clones are planted, even on steep hillsides and left to grow for five to six years.  They are then harvested and made into charcoal for energy or used to make paper products.