Research in Dr. David Butler’s lab group in the Dept. of Plant Sciences is principally focused on basic to applied soil-plant and soil-plant-fungal interactions in horticultural cropping systems. Working mainly in vegetable and small fruit production, the primary research questions in the lab focus on better understanding mechanisms of soilborne plant pathogen control and plant growth promotion in soils treated by non-chemical and biological/anaerobic soil disinfestation as an alternative to chemical soil fumigants. Additional work in the lab includes aspects of endophytic/associative fungi use and function; biogeochemical cycling of C, N and P; and impact of high tunnels, cover crops and alley cropping systems on soil-plant and soil-plant-fungal interactions in organic horticultural cropping systems. We work at laboratory, growth chamber/greenhouse, high tunnel and field scales.
Find out more about the people in the lab, our current projects, research publications, and opportunities.
