The University of Delaware campus community is invited to attend the 2023 Donald L. Sparks Distinguished Lectureship in Soil and Environmental Sciences featuring Mary K. Firestone of the University of California, Berkeley. Firestone’s presentation, “Belowground dynamics of recently fixed plant carbon in a California annual grassland,” will take place Thursday, April 13, at 3:30 p.m. in the Audion at the Tower at STAR. A reception will follow.

Mary K. Firestone is a soil microbial ecologist who has worked extensively on the roles of microorganisms in terrestrial system function. Her research has extended expertise in soil science, microbiology, biogeochemistry, ecosystem science and community ecology to globally important questions underpinning climate change, sustainability, land use change and environmental contamination.

Hosted by the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Donald L. Sparks Distinguished Lectureship brings renowned multidisciplinary thought leaders to the University to share insight and research around the latest topics in soil and environmental sciences.

For more information and to register for the event, please visit: https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/canr/about/speakers-lectures/sparks-lectureship/