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INRA Centre de Bordeaux Aquitaine
UMR 1391 ISPA - Interactions Sol Plante Atmosphère
71, Avenue Edouard Bourlaux CS20032
33882 Villenave d'Ornon cedex

tania.maxwell@inrae.fr 

Tania Maxwell was one of the 4 winners of the 2020 final of “My thesis in 180 seconds” from the University of Bordeaux by winning one of the Jury Prizes. The winners were selected to go to the regional final scheduled for March 19th, but the event was cancelled due to quarantine.

Tania is a 2^nd year PhD student in a double-degree program, supervised by Laurent Augusto and Nicolas Fanin of ISPA's BIONUT group, and by Alison Munson at Laval University in Quebec. Discover her project in 180s (in French).

Education

• 2018 – present: Double degree Ph.D. between the University of Bordeaux, France (specialty Biogeochemistry and ecosystems) and the University Laval, Quebec, Canada(specialty Forestry Sciences).
• 2016 – 2018: Master Biodiversity, Ecology, Evolution (specialty Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning), University Paris-Saclay, France.
• Master thesis: Effect of global change drivers on soil organic nitrogen processes in a montane grassland. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Austria.
• 2011 – 2015: Bachelor Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, USA.

Current Projects

The purpose of my PhD project is to determine whether tree species diversity may offset the negative effects of drought on nutrient cycling (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus) in forests. My research will focus on three parts: nutrient availability in soils, nutrient absorption by trees, and nutrient use efficiency in forests. From this, I aim to identify the ecological mechanisms by which biodiversity may allow forests to cope with extreme climate events such as drought.

My research project will be based on two tree diversity experimental platforms in “common garden”, both manipulating water resource: ORPHEE in south-western France and IDENT in Sault-Ste-Marie, Canada.

See also