The ubiquity of bacteria and the diverse roles they play in natural environments have led to the growing interest in harnessing bacterial activities for various anthropogenic purposes. From a physical point of view, the soil is regarded as an inorganic multiphase system comprising solids, fluids, and gases. However, the soil is also a living system, being one of the largest terrestrial carbon pools, constituting about 33% of the total terrestrial carbon. Prokaryotes comprise up to 17% of the soil organic carbon.

Soil bacteria may change the chemical and physical properties of their surroundings, depending on their metabolism.

Many bacteria are capable of inducing mineral precipitation through various metabolic paths. Most heterotrophic bacteria can induce precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), a common natural cementing agent, by various metabolic pathways.

In my laboratory, we are studying how to bio-stimulate native soil bacteria in desert soils to precipitate Calcite (calcium carbonate), a process known as Microbial Induced Calcite Precipitation - MICP.

Our main goal is to develop an effective bio-stimulation protocol for MICP in desert soils to mitigate various environmental challenges, with emphasis on reducing erosion of the topsoil.