Janice Thies

About

Janice E. Thies is a Professor of Soil Biology in the School of Integrative Plant Science, Soil and Crop Sciences Section at Cornell University. Her research program in soil ecology focuses on developing, testing, and implementing methods to assess soil biological quality, remediate degraded soils, and improve soil management practices to ensure the long-term sustainability of agricultural ecosystems. She has served as an expert consultant to organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the National Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Iran, the USDA Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program, and has served twice on Scientific Advisory Panels for the US-EPA. Thies is an associate editor of the Soil Science Society of America Journal and has been involved in various editorial and faculty governance roles. Her academic background includes a doctorate from the University of Hawaii, a master's degree from the same institution, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington. She has been recognized as a Fellow by the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science Society of America, and was named an International Professor of Soil Ecology at Cornell University. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes student responsibility, engagement, integration of current research, and continuous educator development, with courses in applied plant-microbe interactions and master's thesis research.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Ecology
• Biology
• Soil science
• Geology
• Environmental chemistry
• Geography
• Botany
• Pharmacology
• Earth science

Selected publications

• Reduced microbial stability in the active layer is associated with carbon loss under alpine permafrost degradation

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2021 · 407 citations

  Permafrost degradation may induce soil carbon (C) loss, critical for global C cycling, and be mediated by microbes. Despite larger C stored within the active layer of permafrost regions, which are more affected by warming, and the critical roles of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in C cycling, most previous studies focused on the permafrost layer and in high-latitude areas. We demonstrate in situ that permafrost degradation alters the diversity and potentially decreases the stability of active layer micro…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Soil organic matter attenuates the efficacy of flavonoid-based plant-microbe communication

  Science Advances · 2020 · 97 citations

  Plant-microbe interactions are mediated by signaling compounds that control vital plant functions, such as nodulation, defense, and allelopathy. While interruption of signaling is typically attributed to biological processes, potential abiotic controls remain less studied. Here, we show that higher organic carbon (OC) contents in soils repress flavonoid signals by up to 70%. Furthermore, the magnitude of repression is differentially dependent on the chemical structure of the signaling molecule,…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Methanol-linked synergy between aerobic methanotrophs and denitrifiers enhanced nitrate removal efficiency in a membrane biofilm reactor under a low O2:CH4 ratio

  Water Research · 2020-02-14 · 54 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Biochar amendment pyrolysed with rice straw increases rice production and mitigates methane emission over successive three years

  Waste Management · 2020-08-29 · 46 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Biological Approaches to Regenerative Soil Systems

  2023-10-27 · 31 citations

  bookSenior author

  Agriculture in the 21st century will need considerable modification to remain both productive and sustainable. Greater production is needed to meet the needs of our still-growing populations and to combat hunger and poverty. Declines in soil health and the pollution of water sources are making many of our production systems less tenable. These adverse trends are exacerbated more and more by the impacts of climate change. There are, fortunately, alternative methods available for agricultural prac…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• S. Kaan Kurtural

  98 shared

• Allison Jack

  Indigo Information Services (United States)

  52 shared

• Anusuya Rangarajan

  Cornell University

  50 shared

• Elsa Sanchez

  49 shared

• Patrick E. Guinan

  University of Missouri

  49 shared

• Kurt Nolte

  49 shared

• Hannah M. Mathers

  UC San Diego Health System

  49 shared

• Gerard Krewer

  49 shared

Education

• PhD, Microbiology

  University of Hawaii at Manoa

  1990

• MSc, Microbiology

  University of Hawaii at Manoa

  1986

• BSc, Botany

  University of Washington

  1976

Awards & honors

• American Society for Microbiology Latin America Internationa…
• Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy (2016)
• Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America (2016)
• International Professor of Soil Ecology at Cornell Universit…

Similar researchers at Cornell University

• Johannes Lehmannh-134
• Harold van Esh-49
• Dan Buckleyh-46