Skip to main content
Top
WVU Home Eberly Home Apply Now

Ember Morrissey, Ph.D

Associate Professor

It is easy to mistake soil for an inert, lifeless substance. Although too small for us to see, soil is teeming with microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, and animals. Indeed, a handful of soil contains billions of live microorganisms. Dr. Morrissey's research focuses on soil microbial ecology, beneficial plant-microbe interactions, and soil carbon and nutrient cycling. The overarching aim of Dr. Morrissey’s research program is to better understand ecosystem, and improve soil health, through the consideration of microbial communities. Her research program studies both natural and agricultural systems.

Select Publications
  1. Dang, C., & Morrissey, E. M. (2024). The size and diversity of microbes determine carbon use efficiency in soil. Environmental Microbiology, 26(5), e16633.
  2. Kane, J. L., Schartiger, R. G., Daniels, N. K., Freedman, Z. B., McDonald, L. M., Skousen, J. G., & Morrissey, E. M. (2023). Bioenergy crop Miscanthus x giganteus acts as an ecosystem engineer to increase bacterial diversity and soil organic matter on marginal land. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 186, 109178.
  3. Morrissey, E. M., Kane, J., Tripathi, B. M., Rion, M. S. I., Hungate, B. A., Franklin, R., ... & Brzostek, E. (2023). Carbon acquisition ecological strategies to connect soil microbial biodiversity and carbon cycling. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 177, 108893.
  4. Kane, JL, Kotcon, JB, Freedman, ZB, Morrissey, EM (2022). Fungivorous nematodes drive microbial diversity and carbon cycling in soil. Ecology
  5. Dang C, Walkup JGV, Franklin RB, Schwartz E, Hungate BA, Morrissey EM (2022) Phylogenetic organization in the assimilation of chemically distinct substrates by soil bacteria. Environmental microbiology, 24(1), 357-369. 
  6. Reed, K., & Morrissey, E. M. (2022). Bridging ecology and agronomy to foster diverse pastures and healthy soils. Agronomy, 12(8), 1893.
  7. Morrissey EM, Mau RL, Hayer M, Liu XJ, Schwartz E, Dijkstra P, Koch BJ, Allen K, Blazewicz SJ, Hofmockel K, Pett-Ridge J, Hungate BA (2019) Evolutionary history constrains microbial traits across environmental variation. Nature Ecology and Evolution. 3, 1064-1069

Current CV