Third Sunday Meeting

When
08/18/2019
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Location
Pellissippi State Community College, Hardin Valley Campus

Plastics, a talk by Jennifer M DeBruyn, PhD

Plastics are used extensively in agriculture. Plastic mulch films, thin sheets of plastic laid on the soil surface to conserve water and suppress weeds, improve crop yield and quality but contribute to our global plastic pollution problem. Biodegradable plastics may help alleviate this problem, so our team of researchers has been critically evaluating the performance and adoptability of plastic mulching for vegetable production.

Jennifer DeBruyn is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. She received her B.Sc.H in Biology from Queen’s University (Kingston, Canada) and her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Tennessee. She is a microbial ecologist studying decomposition and biodegradation processes in both agricultural and natural ecosystems.