INTENSIVE AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES ERODE SOIL AND DEPLETE SOIL ORGANIC CARBON, LEADING TO DECREASING SOIL FERTILITY AND RESULTING IN LONG TERM DECLINES IN PLANT PRODUCTION AND DISEASE RESISTANCE. MODELS SUGGEST THAT THESE TRENDS CAN BE REVERSED BY PRACTICING ORGANIC MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES SUCH AS USING COMPOST AND COVER CROPS. HOWEVER, SEVERAL EXPERIMENTS HAVE SHOWN THAT THESE APPROACHES DO NOT ALWAYS PRODUCE NET CARBON GAINS, NOR IS THE MAGNITUDE OF CARBON INPUT ALWAYS EQUAL TO MEASURED OUTPUTS. GIVEN THAT WE RELY ON THESE SYSTEMS FOR 1) GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY AND 2) THEY REPRESENT THE LARGEST SOIL CARBON STOCK WE CAN DIRECTLY MANAGE TO MITIGATE INCREASINGLY VARIABLE CLIMATE CONDITIONS, OBTAINING A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANISMS CONTROLLING SOIL CARBON ACCUMULATION AND DEGRADATION IS ESSENTIAL FOR DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS TO MEET THE DUAL CHALLENGE OF A GROWING POPULATION AND CHANGING ENVIRONMENT. AN OFTEN OVERLOOKED FACTOR IN SOIL CARBON MODELS IS THE ROLE PLAYED BY SOIL MICROBES, WHICH ARE ABUNDANT AND IMPORTANT FOR THEIR ACTIVITIES IN STORING AND RELEASING CARBON THROUGH DECOMPOSITION OF ORGANIC MATTER. OUR RESEARCH AIMS TO STUDY THE ROLE MICROBES PLAY IN ENHANCING THE EFFICIENCY OF CONVERTING CARBON INPUTS INTO FORMS THAT CAN BE READILY STORED IN SOIL. THIS INFORMATION WILL HELP TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CARBON ACCUMULATION MECHANISMS, AND CAN INFORM STRATEGIES TO DEVELOP AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES THAT TARGET BENEFICIAL SOIL MICROBES TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH AND LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY.