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  2. Joel E. Kostka
Member Since 1990
Joel E. Kostka
Tom and Marie Patton Distinguished Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
Joel Kostka is Tom and Marie Patton Distinguished Professor and Associate Chair for Research in the Schools of Biological Sciences and Earth & Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Institute of Technology. Kostka is an expert in ecosystem biogeoscience, which couples biogeochemistry with microbiology to uncover the role of microorganisms in ecosystem function along with determining the mechanisms by which environmental perturbations (climate change) alter microbially-mediated biogeochemical cycles.
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Professional Experience
Georgia Institute of Technology
Tom and Marie Patton Distinguished Professor
2011 - Present
Education
University of Delaware
Doctorate
1993
Joel's AGU Research
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Plant‐Induced Changes Mediate Belowground Carbon Cycling in an Experimentally Warmed Peatland
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH: BIOGEOSCIENCES
17 january 2026
Dry heat beats the peat: warming intensifies the effects of drought on microbial decomposition in a northern peatland
MICROBIAL DRIVERS OF SOIL BIOGEOCHEMISTRY ACROSS SCALES: INTEGRATING EXPERIMENTS, DATA, AND MODELS II ORAL
biogeosciences | 18 december 2025
The Regulatory Role of Phenolic Compounds in Peat Decomposition
CARBON CYCLING IN GLOBAL WETLANDS AND PEATLANDS III ORAL
biogeosciences | 16 december 2025
Northern Peatland Microbial Networks Exhibit Resilience to Warming and Acquire Electron Acceptor from Soil Organic Matter
LAND BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLING UNDER GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: PATTERNS, DRIVERS, AND MECHANISMS II POSTER
biogeosciences | 13 december 2024
Persistence and Community-Enabled Restoration of Coastal Ecosystems Impacted By Sudden Vegetation Die-Back
OCEAN VISIONS BIENNIAL SUMMIT 2023
human adaptation to a changing ocean | 05 april 2023
Revealing the unseen diversity of nitrogen fixing bacteria in aquatic ecosystems
ILLUMINATING UNIQUE AND UNDERSTUDIED MICROBIAL DRIVERS OF BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLING AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE III POSTER
biogeosciences | 12 december 2022
Substrate addition primes soil organic matter decomposition in a peat bog
CARBON CYCLING IN GLOBAL PEATLANDS IV POSTER
biogeosciences | 17 december 2021
Whole-Ecosystem Warming of a Boreal Peatland Decreases Microbial Diversity and Stimulates Methane Production from Plant Metabolites
ILLUMINATING GENES-TO-ECOSYSTEMS-TO-GENES FEEDBACKS IN MODEL ECOSYSTEMS I ORAL
biogeosciences | 13 december 2021
Honors & Awards
Union Fellow
Received December 2024