Pauling Fellow
Pauling Fellow

Biography

Darian Smercina is a Linus Pauling Distinguished postdoctoral fellow and part of the microbiome science team in the Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate. Smercina earned her PhD in crop and soil sciences from Michigan State University with Dr. Lisa Tiemann. Her doctoral research focused on understanding the complex biological and environmental controls on free-living nitrogen fixation in soil systems, a vital biogeochemical process. Darian also has a BS in biology from the University of Toledo.

Her research focuses on soil microbial ecology and biogeochemistry relevant questions, using novel microfluidic systems and biological nitrogen fixation as model processes to study microbial-scale processes and microbial interactions as they relate to macroscale ecosystem processes. Her work will contribute broadly to our understanding of environmental microbiology and aims to improve our predictive capacity of soil microbial communities as they relate to global biogeochemical cycles.

Research Interests

  • Bacterial Culturing
  • Biogeochemistry
  • Confocal Microscopy
  • Enzyme Assays
  • Microbial Ecology
  • Microfluidics
  • Soil Microbiology
  • Soil Sampling

Education

  • Michigan State University, Doctor of Philosophy, Crop & Soil Science
  • University of Toledo, Bachelor of Science, Biology

Affiliations and Professional Service

  • American Geophysical Union
  • Ecological Society of America
  • Soil Ecology Society

Awards and Recognitions

  • Linus Pauling Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow, PNNL, 2020
  • Office of Science Graduate Student Research Fellow, DOE, BER, 2018

Publications

2022

  • Smercina D.N., N.M. Zambare, K.S. Hofmockel, N.C. Sadler, E.L. Bredeweg, C.D. Nicora, and L. Markillie, et al. 2022. "Synthetic Soil Aggregates: Bioprinted Habitats for High Throughput Microbial Metaphenomics." Microorganisms 10, no. 5:Art. No. 944. PNNL-SA-171905. doi:10.3390/microorganisms10050944

2021

  • Smercina D.N., A. Bowsher, S. Evans, M.L. Friesen, E. Eder, D.W. Hoyt, and L.K. Tiemann. 2021. "Switchgrass Rhizosphere Metabolite Chemistry Driven by Nitrogen Availability." Phytobiomes Journal 5, no. 1:88-96. PNNL-SA-152631. doi:10.1094/PBIOMES-09-19-0055-FI
  • Smercina D.N., S. Evans, M.L. Friesen, and L. Tiemann. 2021. "Temporal Dynamics of Free-living Nitrogen Fixation in the Switchgrass Rhizosphere." Global Change Biology Bioenergy 13, no. 11:1814-1830. PNNL-SA-165241. doi:10.1111/gcbb.12893
  • Smercina D.N., V.L. Bailey, and K.S. Hofmockel. 2021. "Micro on a Macroscale: relating microbial-scale soil processes to global ecosystem function." FEMS Microbiology Ecology 97, no. 7:fiab091. PNNL-SA-159672. doi:10.1093/femsec/fiab091

2020

  • Lin V.S., J.J. Rosnow, M.Y. McGrady, D.N. Smercina, J. Nunez, R.S. Renslow, and J.J. Moran. 2020. "Non-destructive spatial analysis of phosphatase activity and total protein distribution in the rhizosphere using a root blotting method." Soil Biology and Biochemistry 146. PNNL-SA-149591. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107820