Elaine Ingham is an American

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

and

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

biology researcher and founder of Soil Foodweb Inc. She is known as a leader in soil

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

and research of the

soil food web The soil food web is the community of organisms living all or part of their lives in the soil. It describes a complex living system in the soil and how it interacts with the environment, plants, and animals. Food webs describe the transfer of e ...

, She is an author of the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

's ''Soil Biology Primer''.

Career

In 1981, Ingham earned a PhD from the

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

in microbiology with an emphasis in soil. Along with her husband Russ, who has a doctorate in zoology emphasizing

nematology Nematology is the scientific discipline concerned with the study of nematodes, or roundworms. Although nematological investigation dates back to the days of Aristotle or even earlier, nematology as an independent discipline has its recognizable ...

, she was offered a post-doctoral fellowship at the Natural Resource Ecology Lab at Colorado State University. In 1985, she accepted a Research Associate Fellowship at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

. In 1986, Ingham moved to

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

and joined the faculty in both Forest Science and Botany and Plant Pathology. She remained on faculty until 2001. Ingham has been an Affiliate Professor of Sustainable Living at

Maharishi University of Management Maharishi International University (MIU), formerly Maharishi University of Management, is a private university in Fairfield, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1971 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and practices a "consciousness-based education" syst ...

Fairfield, Iowa Fairfield is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, Iowa, United States. It has a population of 9,416 people, according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The median family income is $46,138, with 10% of families belo ...

, Adjunct Faculty at

Southern Cross University Southern Cross University (SCU) is an Australian public university, with campuses at Lismore and Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, and at Coolangatta, the most southern suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland. In 2019, it was ranke ...

Lismore, New South Wales Lismore is a city located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore Local government in Australia, local government area, it is also a regional centre in the Northern River ...

, Australia from 1999 to 2005, Visiting Professor with

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state of Victoria. Its ...

from 2004 to 2008, and was Program Chair of the

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

from 1999 to 2000. She was named chief scientist at

The Rodale Institute Rodale Institute is a non-profit organization that supports research into organic farming. It was founded in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, in 1947 by J. I. Rodale, an organic living entrepreneur. After J.I. Rodale died in 1971, his son Robert Rodale purc ...

in 2011 and was later director of research and an instructor at the Agricultural Celebration Institute's farm in California. She is the founder of Soil Foodweb Inc, which works with

soil testing A soil test is a laboratory or in-situ analysis to determine the chemical, physical or biological characteristics of a soil. Possibly the most widely conducted soil tests are those performed to estimate the plant-available concentrations of nutri ...

laboratories to assess

soil biology Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil. Soil life, soil biota, soil fauna, or edaphon is a collective term that encompasses all organisms that spend a significant portion of their life cycle within a so ...

Selected publications

* Ingham, E.R. and M. Alms. (1999), ''The Compost Tea Handbook'' 1.1 * Ingham, E.R. (2000) ''The Compost Tea Brewing Manual''. Sustainable Studies Institute, Eugene, Oregon. 2nd–5th eds. Soil Foodweb Inc, Corvallis, Oregon. * Ingham, E. R. (1999). Chapters 1–5 in: ''The Soil Biology Primer''. NRCS Soil Quality Institute, USDA. * Ingham, E.R. (2004). "The Soil Foodweb: Its Role in Ecosystems Health". In: ''The Overstory Book: Cultivating Connections with Trees''. Ed. Craig R. Elevitch. 2nd ed. Holualoa, Hawaii: Permanent Agriculture Resources. * Ingham, E.R. and M.D. Slaughter. (2005). "The Soil Foodweb–Soil and Composts As Living Ecosystems". International SoilACE Conference in Soil and Compost Eco-Biology. Leon, Spain. 1: 127-139.

References

External links

Soil Foodweb Inc

Life in the Soil Class by Dr. Elaine Ingham
* Koons, Deborah (2012)
''Symphony of the Soil''
documentary. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ingham, Elaine American women microbiologists American microbiologists American soil scientists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)

Career

Selected publications

See also

References

External links