- Assistant Professor of Soil Ecology and Biogeochemistry
- Natural Resource Sciences
- Phone: (401)-874-2902
- Email: patrick.sorensen@uri.edu
- Office Location: Coastal Institute, Office #023
- Google Scholar
Biography
Dr. Sorensen is a microbial biogeochemist that studies soil bacterial and fungal community ecology, microbial physiology and metabolism, as well as plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere. His research expertise is in linking microbial communities with their metabolic traits that underlie soil nutrient cycles, trace gas fluxes, and soil and water geochemistry in natural and human-managed environments. Dr. Sorensen uses both traditional microbiological methods, like isolation and cultivation of environmental microorganisms, as well as modern multi-omic methods in field and laboratory settings, with the aim of understanding how soil microorganisms can improve ecosystem services provided by soils – like sustaining healthy forests, filtering contaminants from groundwater, and increasing air quality in urban or rural settings.
Research
- Microbial biogeochemistry
- Genome-scale models
- Remote-sensing proxies of soil and microbial processes
- Multi-trophic interactions in soil
- Mineral weathering as a source of plant and microbial nutrients
- Non destructive methods for measuring and monitoring soil carbon
Education
PhD, Biology, Boston University, Biology (2016) MSc,
Biology, Boise State University (2011) BSc,
Biology, Boise State University (2008)
Selected Publications
PO Sorensen, U Karaoz, HR Beller, M Bill, NJ Bouskill, JF Banfied, RK Chu, DW Hoyt, E Eder, E Eloe-Fadrosh, A Sharrar, MM Tfaily, J Toyoda, N Tolic, S Wang, A Wong, KH Williams, Y Zhong, EL Brodie. (2024) Coordinated organic and inorganic nitrogen transformations fuel soil microbial blooms and increase nitrogen retention during snowmelt. bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.30.626193
Coclet C, PO Sorensen, U Karaoz, S Wang, EL Brodie, EA Eloe-Fadrosh, S Roux. (2023) Virus diversity and activity is driven by snowmelt and host dynamics in a high-altitude watershed soil ecosystem. Microbiome, 11, 237, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-023-01666-z
Zhong Y, PO Sorensen, J Lui, X Jia, G Zhu, Z Shangguan, R Wang, W Yan. (2022) Dryness decouples interactions between soil and root-associated microbiota in grasslands of the Loess Plateau. iMeta, 1:e18, https://doi.org/10.1002/imt2.18
Sorensen PO, HR Beller, M Bill, N Bouskill, SS Hubbard, U Karaoz, A Polussa, H Steltzer, S Wang, KH Williams, Y Wu, EL Brodie (2020) The snowmelt-niche differentiates three microbial life strategies that influence soil nitrogen availability during and after winter. Frontiers in Microbiology, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00871