The Section of Soil and Crop Sciences addresses the challenge of developing environmentally sustainable agricultural systems to produce food on regional, national, and international scales through three major program areas: Soil Science, Crop Science, and Environmental Information Systems.
Program Areas
Soil Biogeochemistry
Advance our understanding of biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrient elements in soil, providing important insight into regional and global element cycles which provide the basis for sustainable soil and land use management. Stabilization mechanisms of organic matter in soil nano-structures and the development of a biochar soil management technology that improves soil fertility, sequesters carbon and reduces off-site pollution. Research topics include: carbon sequestration in the context of climate change and black carbon dynamics; using synchrotron-based NEXAFS and FTIR for the micro- and nano-scale observation of biogeochemical cycles in soils; and the study of so-called Terra Preta de Indio (Amazonian Dark Earths), anthropogenic soils. Recent efforts include the combination of bio-energy and biochar applications to soil, which offer the opportunity to develop a carbon-negative energy technology which at the same time improves the environment.
Faculty Programs: Lehmann
Soil Chemistry
Behavior of contaminants such as heavy metals at the soil-water interface in the environment, and soil health, as it is impacted by the contamination of soils by various waste materials, commercial fertilizers and manures. Protecting food crops from toxic metal contaminants, minimizing trace element deficiencies, and developing methods for testing and remediating contaminated soils. Use process-based measurements and state-of-the-art spectroscopic (e.g., XAS, FTIR, NMR), microscopic (e.g., TEM, SEM) and diffraction (e.g., XRD) methods to understand ecosystem element cycles and processes from the molecular to the field scale.
Faculty Programs: Martinez
Assessment of nitrogen and phosphorus cycle processes in agricultural soils with respect to enhancing plant nutrient uptake. Specific research topics include: improve fertilizer N recovery by crops; the functions and dynamics of soil organic matter; appropriate practices for management of soil organic matter.
Faculty Programs: Lehmann
Environmental fate of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs), including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, in agricultural and soil ecosystems.
Faculty Programs: Jin
Soil Genesis/Classification/Pedology
Examination of the spatial distribution and variability of soil characteristics in urban and human influenced environments.
Faculty Programs: Russell-Anelli
Soil Ecology, Waste Management & Environmental Microbiology
Investigations of the soil microbiome and its impacts on ecosystem health. Composting systems; microbial diversity, and relationships between microbial diversity, environmental characteristics, and ecosystem processes; methods to assess soil biological quality, track the environmental fate of emerging organic contaminants, remediation of degraded soils, and improve soil management practices.
Faculty Programs: Buckley, Thies, Jin, Aller, Amsili
Soil Microbial Genomics & Evolutionary Biology
Examine the effects of agricultural management practices on soil ecology and soil microbial processes. Microbial diversity, and relationships between microbial diversity, environmental characteristics, and ecosystems processes; the development of soil health diagnostics; the impact of soil microbial diversity and community composition on agroecological function; and the use of environmental genomics to identify factors which impact bacterial population structure in soils at landscape and regional scales.
Faculty Programs: Buckley, Thies,
Soil Physics/Environmental Biophysics
Examination of physical soil characteristics that contribute to soil fertility, soil quality, transport and exchange processes in soils. Research topics include: soil physical tests to determine soil health; examination of natural porous media; transport theories; the exchange processes in soils.
Faculty Programs: van Es
Crop Management: Grain, Seed, Forage and Bioenergy
Field experiments to develop management practices that improve forage quality, production, profitability and animal performance; best management practices for corn, soybeans, and other grain crops. Development of grass production and processing for a profitable and environmentally sound source of bioenergy. Evaluation of environmental, biotic, and management interactions that influence the growth, development, yield, and quality of crops. Management of crops for maximum economic returns and minimum soil erosion and nitrate losses with environmentally safe management practices. Farmer-centric on-farm experimentation.
Faculty Programs: Cherney, Ryan, Longchamps
Cropping Systems
Development of cover crops by identifying management strategies that maximize their benefits and minimize obstacles to their adoption. Diversifying crop rotations, exploring the impacts of conservation agriculture on soil health, and water management.
Faculty Programs: McDonald, Ryan, Longchamps
Crop Physiology and Molecular Biology
Identifying leaf anatomical and biochemical properties for improving photosynthesis and water-use efficiency in C3 and C4 grasses. Redesigning leaf cell walls for optimizing CO2 and water movement inside leaves. Developing an integrated understanding of plant-atmosphere CO2-water fluxes. Underlying mechanisms of carbon metabolism and hydraulics in response to environmental stress in both wild and cultivated plants
Faculty Programs: Pathare, Sonawane
Weed Science
Integrated weed management involving ways that biotic and abiotic factors affect weed population and community dynamics, and seed dormancy. Invasive weed biology and biological control measures. Weed control recommendations, herbicide residues and herbicide-resistant biotypes.
Geospatial Sciences and Remote Sensing
Integratng leaf/canopy measurements, numerical modeling, remote sensing observations, and big-data synthesis and machine learning. Monitoring plant water use across field to global scales using remote sensing and assessing the impacts of agricultural practices and land cover changes on water resource sustainability.
Ecosystem and Environmental Analysis, Modeling and Impact Assessment
Analysis of ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry under the global environmental change via data-model integration of how global change alters structure and functions of terrestrial ecosystems. Integration and analysis of resource inventory data for use in spatially-explicit models and risk assessments of environmental contamination in mixed use landscapes. Measurement of ecological processes scaling from individual plants to landscapes with remote sensing, and combination into models related to ecosystem services and disservices, including modeling airborne pollen concentrations
Faculty Programs: Luo, Woodbury, Katz
Space-Time Statistics
Examination of agronomic and environmental measurements at varying scales through the use of advanced statistical methods, including geostatistics and data mining.
Faculty Programs: van Es