TEACHING FACULTY – INSTRUCTIONAL LAB

Program Affiliations

• Department of Soil Science

Education

• BSc Biological Sciences, 1985, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
• PhD Biological Sciences and Soil Science, 1989, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Teaching and Research

In the Spring semesters, I teach the laboratory sections of SS/Hort/Agron 326 – Plant Nutrition Management, which includes greenhouse experiments and laboratory determinations on relationships between soil fertility and plant growth. Since 2007, I have been teaching SS/AOS 132 – Earth’s Water: Natural Science and Human Use, a class that explores the science of Earth’s hydrosphere by integrating lectures with a variety of learning activities for each learning style and interest; these include laboratory activities, letters, news articles, and current scientific literature.

In the Fall semesters, I teach all laboratory sections of SS 301- General Soil Science, manage online quizzes for the class, and lecture the section on Soil Biology. The goal of this course is to provide accurate understanding of all the basic (physical, chemical, biological) principles that rule in soils, which will arm the student with appreciation and respect for the soil resource, whatever discipline may be their background. Lectures and Laboratories are carefully coordinated, so that they complement each other and contribute to student’s understanding of the complexity of soils. The laboratory component works on scientific writing skills, as well.

I also participate in activities and provide support for other courses, as required, such as SS 324 – Soils and Environmental Quality, or supervise Ph.D. students taking their Teaching Practicum in the department (SS 799).

Selected Publications

Weber, K.A., M.M. Urrutia, P.F. Churchill, R.K. Ukkadapu, and E.E. Roden. 2006. Anaerobic redox cycling of iron by freshwater sediment microorganisms. Environ. Microbiol. 8: 100-113.

Roden, E.E., and M.M. Urrutia. 2002. Influence of biogenic iron on bacterial crystalline Fe(III) oxide reduction. Geomicrobiology J. 19: 209-251.

Roden, E.E., M.M. Urrutia, and C.J. Mann. 2000. Bacterial reductive dissolution of crystalline Fe(III) oxide reduction in continuous-flow column reactors. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66: 1062-1065.

Konhauser, K.O., and M.M. Urrutia. 1999. Bacterial clay authigenesis: a common biogeochemical process. Chemical Geology 161: 399-413.

Urrutia, M.M. 1997. General bacterial sorption processes. In Wase, D.A. J. and Forster C.F. (Eds) Biosorbents for metal ions, pp. 39-66. Taylor & Francis Ltd. London, UK.

Schultze-Lam, S., M.M. Urrutia, and T.J. Beveridge. 1995. Metal and silicate sorption and subsequent mineral formation on bacterial surfaces: subsurface implications. In Allen, H.E. (Ed.) Metal contaminated aquatic sediments pp: 111-147. Ann Arbor Press Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Urrutia, M.M. and T.J. Beveridge. 1993. Mechanism of silicate binding to the bacterial cell wall in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bact. 175: 1936-1945.

Urrutia, M.M., E. Garcia-Rodeja, and F. Macias. 1991. Effect of liming and phosphorous fertilization on the acidity of two acid soils from Galicia. Suelo y Planta, 1: 49-60. (In spanish).

Urrutia, M.M., E. Garcia-Rodeja, and F. Macias. 1988. Use of unbuffered salt solutions to extract “active” aluminum complexed to organic matter in acid soils from Galicia (NW Spain). Anal. Edaf. Agrobiol., 47: 1289-1301. (In spanish).

Urrutia, M.M. and A. Martinez. 1986. Effect of aluminum concentration in the first stages of development of commercial and local varieties of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from Galicia. Preliminary results. Anal. Edaf. Agrobiol. 45: 1315-1330. (In spanish).