Maja SiegenthalerPostdoctoral researcher

About me

I am a postdoctoral researcher working with Stefano Manzoni on the SMILE project. My research focuses on the role of microbes in carbon and nutrient cycling in soil. Further, I am a member of the Bolin Centre for Climate Research, associated with research themes (RT) 2 (water, biogeochemistry and climate) and 4 (climate, ecosystems and biodiversity), and currently leading a perspective paper in RT4.

I am a soil scientist and biogeochemist with a background in agricultural sciences (BSc and MSc). The driving interest in my research has been curiosity about the role of microbes in element cycling in the soil-plant system. To me, understanding how environmental changes influence microbial processes and thus the chemical forms and mobility of elements in the environment is crucial for adapting management practices to climate change.

In my PhD (2021, ETH Zürich), I studied phosphorus cycling in the organic soil horizons of beech forests. I applied dual isotopic tracing (33P and 18O) in the field and combined it with solution 31P NMR spectroscopy in an incubation experiment to reveal the microbial synthesis of organic and condensed phosphorus species. In field fertilization experiments, I directly targeted microbial communities to investigate how they respond to changes in soil nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations. After that, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at two Swiss research institutions (Agroscope and Eawag), investigating trace elements in soil and specifically how land use, soil properties, and organic matter composition affect selenium speciation in soil.