On July 30, 2025, Prof. Dani Or, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE), visited SESS and gave a keynote presentation on the "Micro-hydrology and Physics of Soil Micro-organisms Workshop" hosted by the School of Earth System Science of Tianjin University. Participants also included delegates from the University of Graz (Austria), Graz University of Technology (Austria), China Agricultural University, the Institute of Soil Science and the Institute of Earth Environment of Chines Academy of Sciences.
At the opening keynote address, Professor Dani Or presented groundbreaking research titled "General Rules for Size Distribution of Soil Bacterial Communities". The study elucidates the population dynamics and spatial patterns of soil bacteria, demonstrating for the first time that these microbial communities adhere to Gibrat's law of proportional growth. This discovery provides new insights into the organizational principles of soil microorganisms.
The workshop explored critical intersections between soil physics and microbiology through three key sessions: Observation/Findings (focusing on field monitoring and phenomena interpretation), Mechanisms/Processes (emphasizing controlled experiments and mechanistic analysis), and Modeling (highlighting theoretical development and model construction). The workshop addressed pressing global challenges in soil health, pinpointing research priorities to bridge physical, chemical, and biological processes. These insights will accelerate studies on soil structures and microbial ecosystems.
