Dr Ryan Mushinski

Associate Professor

Email: Ryan.Mushinski@warwick.ac.uk .

Phone: 024 765 75050

Office: B131

Twitter: @ryanmushinski

Mushinski webpage

Research Clusters

Environment & Ecology

Plant & Agricultural Biosciences

Quantitative, Systems & Engineering Biology

Research Interests

My research focuses on understanding microbial controls over biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, with particular emphasis on nitrogen transformations and trace gas emissions. I investigate how microbial communities respond to environmental change, including land use transitions, climate variability, and management practices, and how these responses influence ecosystem functions. A central theme is linking molecular-scale microbial processes to ecosystem-scale fluxes of reactive nitrogen species, integrating microbial ecology with biogeochemistry and atmospheric chemistry. Current work examines novel mechanisms of soil nitrogen oxide production, including the role of reactive oxygen species in generating volatile nitrogen compounds, and explores microbial nutrient limitation dynamics in peatland ecosystems. I also investigate sustainable agricultural interventions, including nanocomposite fertilisers designed to reduce reactive nitrogen losses while maintaining crop productivity.

Technical Expertise

My research integrates molecular microbiology with ecosystem biogeochemistry, employing high-throughput sequencing (amplicon and metagenomic approaches) to characterise microbial community structure and functional potential. I specialise in measuring greenhouse gas fluxes (CO₂, N₂O, CH₄) and reactive nitrogen species (NO, NO₂, HONO) using chamber-based systems and trace gas analysers. Laboratory capabilities include culturing and molecular characterisation of soil microorganisms, quantifying microbial biomass and activity through enzyme assays and isotopic techniques, and analysing soil biogeochemical properties (carbon and nitrogen pools, reactive oxygen species, nutrient availability). I apply stable isotope approaches (¹⁵N, ¹³C) to trace element transformations and employ bioinformatics pipelines for taxonomic and functional profiling of environmental microbiomes. We employ these various techniques to gain mechanistic understanding of how microbial processes scale from genomes to ecosystems.

Biography

Associate Professor, University of Warwick, 2023-Current
Assistant Professor, University of Warwick, 2020-2023
USDA Postdoctoral Fellow, Biogeochemistry, Indiana University (USA), 2017-2020
PhD, Ecosystem Science, Texas A&M University (USA), 2013-2017

Publications

Purchase, Megan L., Wang, Deying, Thorpe, Alex J. and Mushinski, Ryan M. (2025) Effects of wheat root morphologies on agricultural soil gas fluxes. In: EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr –2 May 2025 doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu25-467

Mushinski, Ryan, Purchase, Megan L., Phillips, Richard, Raff, Jonathan, Phelps, Amy, Huenupi, Elizabeth and Lau, Jennifer (2025) Periodic cicada mass mortality events drive microbial-mediated gas pulses from forest soils. In: EGU25, Vienna, Austria & Online, 27 Apr –2 May 2025. Published in: EGU General Assembly 2025 doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu25-5842

Bending, Gary D., Newman, Amy, Picot, Emma, Mushinski, Ryan M., Jones, Davey L. and Carré, Isabelle A. (2025) Diurnal rhythmicity in the rhizosphere microbiome — mechanistic insights and significance for rhizosphere function. Plant, Cell & Environment, 48 (3). pp. 2040-2052. doi:10.1111/pce.15283 ISSN 0140-7791.

Lazar, Anna, Griffiths, Robert I., Goodall, Tim, Norton, Lisa R., Mushinski, Ryan M. and Bending, Gary D. (2024) Regional scale diversity and distribution of soil inhabiting Tetracladium. Environmental Microbiome, 19 (1). 111. doi:10.1186/s40793-024-00646-6 ISSN 2524-6372.

Lazar, Anna, Phillips, Richard P., Kivlin, Stephanie, Bending, Gary D. and Mushinski, Ryan M. (2024) Understanding the ecological versatility of Tetracladium species in temperate forest soils. Environmental Microbiology, 26 (11). e70001. doi:10.1111/1462-2920.70001 ISSN 1462-2912.

Xiao, Juanjuan, Wang, Deying, Sinchan, Banerjee, Mushinski, Ryan, Jin, Decai and Deng, Ye (2024) Response patterns of the microbiome during hexavalent chromium remediation by Tagetes erecta L. Science of The Total Environment, 935 . 173413. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173413 ISSN 0048-9697.

Mushinski, Ryan M., Zhou, Yong, Hyodo, Ayumi, Casola, Claudio and Boutton, Thomas W. (2024) Interactions of long-term grazing and woody encroachment can shift soil biogeochemistry and microbiomes in savanna ecosystems. Geoderma, 441 . 116733. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2023.116733 ISSN 0016-7061.

Purchase, Megan L., Bending, Gary D. and Mushinski, Ryan M. (2023) Spatiotemporal variations of soil reactive nitrogen oxide fluxes across the anthropogenic landscape. Environmental Science & Technology, 57 (43). pp. 16348-16360. doi:10.1021/acs.est.3c05849 ISSN 0013-936X.

Hassan, Sammy S., Mushinski, Ryan M., Amede, Tilahun, Bending, Gary D. and Covington, James A. (2023) Integrated probe system for measuring soil carbon dioxide concentrations. Sensors, 23 (5). 2580. doi:10.3390/s23052580 ISSN 1424-8220.

Hassan, Sammy S., Mushinski, Ryan M., Amede, Tilahun, Covington, James A. and Bending, Gary D. (2023) Data for Integrated probe system for measuring soil carbon dioxide concentrations. [Dataset]

Zhang, Qian, Boutton, Thomas W., Hsiao, Che-Jen, Mushinski, Ryan , Wang, Liming, Bol, Roland and Klumpp, Erwin (2023) Soil colloidal particles in a subtropical savanna : biogeochemical significance and influence of anthropogenic disturbances. Geoderma, 430 . 116282. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2022.116282 ISSN 0016-7061.

Lazar, Anna, Mushinski, Ryan and Bending, G. D. (2022) Landscape scale ecology of Tetracladium spp. fungal root endophytes. Environmental Microbiome, 17 . doi:10.1186/s40793-022-00431-3 ISSN 2524-6372.

Eagar, Andrew C., Mushinski, Ryan, Horning, Amber L., Smemo, Kurt A., Phillips, Richard P. and Blackwood, Christopher B. (2022) Arbuscular mycorrhizal tree communities have greater soil fungal diversity and relative abundances of saprotrophs and pathogens than ectomycorrhizal tree communities. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 88 (1). e01782. doi:10.1128/AEM.01782-21 ISSN 0099-2240.

Mushinski, Ryan , Payne, Zachary C., Raff, Jonathan D., Craig, Matthew E., Pusede, Sally E, Rusch, Douglas B., White, Jeffrey R. and Phillips, Richard P. (2021) Nitrogen cycling microbiomes are structured by plant mycorrhizal associations with consequences for nitrogen oxide fluxes in forests. Global Change Biology, 27 (5). pp. 1068-1082. doi:10.1111/gcb.15439 ISSN 1354-1013.

Beidler, Katilyn V., Phillips, Richard P., Andrews, Erin, Maillard, François, Mushinski, Ryan and Kennedy, Peter G. (2020) Substrate quality drives fungal necromass decay and decomposer community structure under contrasting vegetation types. Journal of Ecology, 108 (5). pp. 1845-1859. doi:10.1111/1365-2745.13385 ISSN 0022-0477.

Mushinski, Ryan , Gentry, Terry J. and Boutton, Thomas W. (2019) Forest organic matter removal leads to long-term reductions in bacterial and fungal abundance. Applied Soil Ecology, 137 . pp. 106-110. doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.01.017 ISSN 0929-1393.

Mushinski, Ryan , Phillips, Richard P., Payne, Zachary C., Abney, Rebecca B., Jo, Insu, Fei, Songlin, Pusede, Sally E., White, Jeffrey R., Rusch, Douglas B. and Raff, Jonathan D. (2019) Microbial mechanisms and ecosystem flux estimation for aerobic NOy emissions from deciduous forest soils. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116 (6). pp. 2138-2145. doi:10.1073/pnas.1814632116 ISSN 0027-8424.

Hyodo, Ayumi, Malghani, Saadatullah, Zhou, Yong, Mushinski, Ryan , Toyoda, Sakae, Yoshida, Naohiro, Boutton, Thomas W. and West, Jason B. (2019) Biochar amendment suppresses N 2 O emissions but has no impact on 15 N site preference in an anaerobic soil. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 33 (2). pp. 165-175. doi:10.1002/rcm.8305 ISSN 0951-4198.

Mushinski, Ryan , Gentry, Terry J. and Boutton, Thomas W. (2018) Organic matter removal associated with forest harvest leads to decade scale alterations in soil fungal communities and functional guilds. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 127 . pp. 127-136. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.09.019 ISSN 0038-0717.

Mushinski, Ryan , Zhou, Yong, Gentry, Terry J. and Boutton, Thomas W. (2018) Bacterial metataxonomic profile and putative functional behavior associated with C and N cycle processes remain altered for decades after forest harvest. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 119 . pp. 184-193. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.01.008 ISSN 0038-0717.

Zhou, Yong, Mushinski, Ryan , Hyodo, Ayumi, Ben Wu, X. and Boutton, Thomas W. (2018) Vegetation change alters soil profile δ15N values at the landscape scale. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 119 . pp. 110-120. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.01.012 ISSN 0038-0717.

Mushinski, Ryan , Gentry, Terry J., Dorosky, Robert J. and Boutton, Thomas W. (2017) Forest harvest intensity and soil depth alter inorganic nitrogen pool sizes and ammonia oxidizer community composition. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 112 . pp. 216-227. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.05.015 ISSN 0038-0717.

Mushinski, Ryan , Boutton, Thomas W. and Scott, D. Andrew (2017) Decadal-scale changes in forest soil carbon and nitrogen storage are influenced by organic matter removal during timber harvest. Journal of Geophysical Research : Biogeosciences, 122 (4). pp. 846-862. doi:10.1002/2016JG003738 ISSN 2169-8953.

Arias Ugarte, Renzo, Devarajan, Deepa, Mushinski, Ryan and Hudnall, Todd W. (2016) Antimony(v) cations for the selective catalytic transformation of aldehydes into symmetric ethers, α,β-unsaturated aldehydes, and 1,3,5-trioxanes. Dalton Transactions, 45 (27). pp. 11150-11161. doi:10.1039/c6dt02121b ISSN 1477-9226.

Dorsey, Christopher L., Mushinski, Ryan and Hudnall, Todd W. (2014) Metal-free stabilization of monomeric antimony(I) : a carbene-supported stibinidene. Chemistry - A European Journal, 20 (29). pp. 8914-8917. doi:10.1002/chem.201403578 ISSN 0947-6539.

Johnson, Derek W., Yum, Jung Hwan, Hudnall, Todd W., Mushinski, Ryan , Bielawski, Christopher W., Roberts, John C., Wang, Wei-E, Banerjee, Sanjay K. and Harris, H. Rusty (2014) Characterization of ALD beryllium oxide as a potential high-k gate dielectric for low-leakage AlGaN/GaN MOSHEMTs. Journal of Electronic Materials, 43 (1). pp. 151-154. doi:10.1007/s11664-013-2754-1 ISSN 0361-5235.

Yum, J. H., Shin, H. S., Hill, R., Oh, J., Lee, H. D., Mushinski, Ryan , Hudnall, Todd W., Bielawski, C. W., Banerjee, S. K., Loh, W. Y., Wang, Wei-E. and Kirsch, Paul (2012) A study of capping layers for sulfur monolayer doping on III-V junctions. Applied Physics Letters, 101 (25). 253514. doi:10.1063/1.4772641 ISSN 0003-6951.

Mushinski, Ryan , Squires, Brian M., Sincerbox, Katherine A. and Hudnall, Todd W. (2012) Amino-acrylamido carbenes : modulating carbene reactivity via decoration with an α,β-unsaturated carbonyl moiety. Organometallics, 31 (13). pp. 4862-4870. doi:10.1021/om300401t ISSN 0276-7333.

Research Projects

Title	Funder	Award start	Award end
A RADICAL SOURCE REVEALED IN SOIL: Biogenic Nitrous Acid Production and Effects on Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling - NERC Pushing the Frontiers - July 2024	NERC	01 July 2025	30 June 2028
Nutrient Soil Stoichiometry Transformation for Optimized Resource Management	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	01 April 2024	31 March 2027
"This is My Environmental Journey": Curating careers to inspire a diverse and inclusive future in environmental science (NERC Opening up the environment 2025)	NERC	18 July 2025	31 March 2026
Uncharacterised microbial pathways are key to understanding large fluxes of biogenic reactive nitrogen gases from agronomic soils	BBSRC	06 February 2023	05 February 2026
Development of a non-reactive flux chamber system to measure reactive pollutant gases (The Royal Society Research Grants)	Royal Society	31 January 2022	30 January 2023

Teaching / Student Supervision

Dr Mushinski teaches on the Biological Sciences BSc course, convening the Environmental Biology module for Y1 undergraduates. He supervises multiple Y3 undergraduate projects each year as well as Environmental Bioscience MSc research projects. Y3 projects focus on various aspects of soil biogeochemistry and microbial ecology - usually directed by ongoing graduate student projects in the lab.

Dr. Mushinski has an active PhD cohort and is always looking for eager PhD candidates to join his lab.

Dr. Mushinski is the Warwick Director for the NERC CENTA DTP