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In this collaborative project with Dr. Karen Garrett, we aim to answer questions about whether or not different organic farming management practices foster soil microbial communities that may benefit for crop production and reduce losses to pathogens. We use next-generation sequencing tools to evaluate the diversity and composition of microbial communities in response to organic vs. conventional nutrient management at a research farm.  More recent research components evaluate microbial community responses to  transitions in farming strategies (high tunnels and common organic soil amendments).