Brendan O’Neill, PhD, conducts research on soil systems and terrestrial microbial ecology. Soils are vital ecosystems, not only for their role in food production, but also for their importance to global carbon and water cycles other biogeochemical processes. Soil microbes carry out many of the processes that make soil so critical to sustainability, including regulation of greenhouse gases. O’Neill’s work includes basic research into the formation and function of soil microbial communities, the linkages between terrestrial ecosystem management and water resources, and the role of soil ecology in promoting sustainable development.