Dr. Samiran Banerjee
Principal Investigator
I am a microbial ecologist interested in understanding how microbial communities assemble, interact, and influence ecosystem functioning. A central goal of my research is to uncover the ecological principles that govern microbiome structure, stability, and resilience. My work focuses on plant-soil microbiomes, microbial interactions, and the mechanisms through which microbiomes respond to environmental change. By integrating ecological theory with large-scale microbiome data, I aim to develop predictive frameworks that link microbiome structure to ecosystem processes. I grew up in India, where I completed my BSc and MSc in Botany. I later earned an MSc in Plant and Soil Sciences from the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom and a PhD in Soil Science from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. After my PhD, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alberta and later at CSIRO in Australia as an OCE Postdoctoral Fellow. I then moved to Switzerland, where I worked as a postdoctoral researcher and project leader at Agroscope in Zurich. I joined North Dakota State University as an Assistant
Professor in 2019. Outside work, I enjoy bike riding, fishing with my son, and walking my golden retriever, Ace.