Kenji Maurice

• Background and Projects

My research aims to study the microbial ecology of soil and plants in natural and managed ecosystems. From the hot arid desert ecosystem of Saudi Arabia to the tropics of French Guiana and the island of Martinique, I conduct field sampling of the soil, rhizosphere and roots to study how the microbiome responds to land use and environmental change, and how microbial communities are assembled and interact, with a focus on plant symbionts such as mycorrhiza and nitrogen-fixing bacteria. My research aims to advance our understanding of the fundamental processes that shape microbial communities, but also to harness practical knowledge for their conservation and restoration in partnership with start-ups. Some of my studies also have direct industrial aims, such as the study of aquilaria agarwood, which is used in perfumery.

I use metabarcoding sequencing, histology, microbial culture, biostatistics, co-occurrence networks and nullity models to obtain a holistic view of the diversity, activity, structure and interactions of the microbiome, in relation to environmental parameters. Ecological concepts form the backbone of my research, as I integrate community ecology, assembly processes and interactions in my work.

Currently I’m part of the Biodiversa+ Grass4Fun project In the EmerSys Team at the Research Institute in Horticulture and Seeds (INRAE, Angers) under the supervision of Marie Simonin to study the contribution of European grasslands to the conservation of soil biodiversity and ecosystem function under multiple global change stressors.

• CV

• Links

ORCID profile