Dr. Donald R. Zak, the Alexander H. Smith Distinguished University Professor of Ecology and the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability, was one of three U-M faculty members who gave Distinguished University Professorship lectures February 8. The Distinguished University Professorship is one of U-M’s highest honors.

Zak's talk focused on “Soil Microbial Communities and the Future Functioning of Terrestrial Ecosystems.” 

In his presentation, Zak discussed how microbial community function can be contingent on community composition and the potential implications of this relationship on the future functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. He also talked about how a changing environment can modify the ecological constraints on soil microbial communities and the compositional and functional responses that result.