The Impact of Racism on Urban Belowground Biodiversity

PI: Kathryn Atherton, PhD Student, Bioinformatics; BU URBAN Program
Co-PI: Jennifer M. Bhatnagar, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences

Read a Q&A with Kathryn Atherton and watch a spotlight video.

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In this study, Atherton and Bhatnagar will conduct a city-wide survey of soil microbiome diversity and composition in urban green spaces of Boston and how it varies across neighborhoods due to environmental factors shaped by the legacies of racist policies. A single pinch of soil often contains several hundred different species of bacteria and fungi, so their study will leverage advances in microbial DNA sequencing technology to identify all of the taxa within 81 green spaces around Boston in communities of varying racial and ethnic demographics. They will pair microbial community data with existing data on average temperatures, tree density and diversity, and air and soil pollution that are available for the city of Boston. This will be the first study to tease apart the role of multiple environmental factors in controlling urban soil microbiome composition and the social factors that shape them.

See more of our 2021 Early Stage Urban Research Award recipients