Misato Toda joins IBRE

Our new scientific associate introduces herself.

I am a new scientific associate working on a project about microplastic in agricultural soil (Mitigating of Macro- and Micro-Plastics in Agriculture Soils using Hyperspectral Imaging (MIRACLE)). My ultimate career goal is to conserve our planet where nature and people thrive, thus the fact that the project at IBRE aims at mitigating microplastic pollution in soil ecosystem really motivates me.

Recently, I obtained my PhD in Agroecology and Plant-Microbiome Interactions at the University of Zurich and Agroscope, Reckenholz. My work focused on soil ecosystem services that could support more efficient use of soil nutrients by crops. The more efficiently crop utilizes nutrients, the less external fertilizer inputs, and thus the more sustainable agriculture. I have explored how soil biological as well as physico-chemical properties induced by agricultural managements are interlinked to soil nitrogen cycling using isotope labeling and molecular techniques.

Based on my experience in agroecology, at IBRE, I will investigate the fluxes and residence time of microplastic in soil. These are essential and yet missing information to assess microplastic pollution in terrestrial ecosystem.

Misato Toda
Wissenschaftliche Assistentin
+41 56 202 87 98
misato.toda@fhnw.ch