The Sequestration: Lal Carbon Center Newsletter Summer 2024

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Cover of The Sequestration Summer 2024Welcome to the 2024 Summer Edition of The Sequestration, containing in-depth news about events at the Lal Carbon Center (formerly C-MASC) this season.

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1. Top Stories

  1. Rattan Lal Receives the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity

    Foundation President António Feijó, Chair of the Jury Angela Merkel, and winners Vijay Kumar Thallam, Nagaendramma Nettem, Rattan Lal, Helmy Abouleish, and Naglaa Ahmed. Photo by Marcia Lessa, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

    The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity honored three pioneers in sustainable agriculture this year, including Dr. Rattan Lal, Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming, and the SEKEM collective. 

  2. Bayer and Our Carbon Efforts

    A farmer kneeling to inspect crops in a field. Photo courtesy Bayer

    By Susana Diaz-Amaya

    Climate change is a pressing challenge for humankind with a significant impact on global food security. And when it comes to feeding thet world, healthy soil is key. For Bayer, regenerative agriculture is an outcome-based production model with the core goal of

  3. A Chance Encounter

    Helga Flores Trejo and Rattan Lal. Photo courtesy Helga Flores Trejo

    By Helga Flores Trejo

    Last May, I travelled to Brazil to attend a Bayer organized event in the context of the G20 meeting of the Agricultural Chief Scientists. The event inspired me with an outstanding display of innovations that are bringing decarbonization of agriculture to life – you

2. In Memoriam

  1. Dr. Klaus Töpfer

    By Rattan Lal

    With deep sadness, I have learned that humanity has lost Dr. Klaus Töpfer, a global leader who supported research and awareness about the importance of soil for human well-being and nature conservation. Both professionally and personally, it was truly a great honor to know

3. Quarterly Viewpoint

  1. From the Desk of Professor João Carlos De Moraes Sá (Juca Sá)

    By João Carlos De Moraes Sá

    What lessons have we learned from Mother Nature about soil?

    Upon entering, walking through, and collecting a soil sample from any given geographical area under native vegetation, one will invariably encounter three basic scenarios: a)

4. Center Updates

  1. Farm Bill Internship

    Senator Debbie Stabenow with Sonam Rustagi. Photo courtesy Sonam Rustagi

    By Sonam Rustagi

    Last semester, I had the privilege to work on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, with the majority leadership. This internship allowed me to better understand the legislative underpinnings of agricultural policy, and better understand the

  2. C-FARM: Extension

    Dr. Murumkar and Ms. Oruganti to lead Extension component of the Carbon Farming Alliance for Research and Management (C-FARM) Project

    By Asmita Murumkar and Prasanna Oruganti

    Dr. Asmita Murumkar is an Assistant Professor and Ecosystems Services Field Specialist

  3. OSU Extension Team Organizing Events to Educate Ag Communities About Carbon Farming

    By Asmita Murumkar

    Dr. Asmita Murumkar is leading the extension component of the Carbon Farming Alliance for Research and Management (C-FARM) project, alongside Dr. Elizabeth Hawkins, Mike Estadt, Heather Neikirk, and Prasanna Oruganti. They recently launched the first Carbon Academy

  4. C-FARM: Living Soils of the Americas

    Map of SOC stock in Brazil. Image courtesy Carla Gavilan.

    By Carla Gavilan

    As a central factor of the Carbon Farming Alliance for Research and Management (C-FARM) project, monitoring changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks is crucial for identifying sustainable land use practices related to climate change mitigation, food security, and land

  5. C-FARM: Exploring Soil Dynamics

    Fig. 1: Measurement of soil strength with a penetrometer. Photo courtesy Md. Nayem Hassan Munna

    A Research Update from the Lal Carbon Center

    By Md. Nayem Hassan Munna

    Over the past several months, my research as a PhD graduate student at The Lal Carbon Center has achieved significant progress. I have been conducting experiments on plots at Waterman Farm,

  6. NIFA: Soil Microbiome Impact

    Chinmayee Priyadarshini works in the soil. Photo by Chinmayee Priyadarshini

    By Chinmayee Priyadarshini  

    PhD student Chinmayee Priyadarshini is working on the a National Institutite of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) study “Impacts of agricultural systems on the dynamics and functions of soil and tomato-associated microbiome and productivity,” with Dr. Xia Ye and Dr

  7. Stark County Projects Updates

    By Lauren Baldarelli and Gunadhish Khanal

    Updates for The Stark Sustainable Soil Initiative, led by researcher Dr. Baldarelli and funded by Herbert W. Hoover Foundation, and Cover Crop Impacts on Soil Carbon Inferred by Modeling and Soil Optical

  8. Special Presentation @ Ecology on Tap

    By Anna Kolganova

    On July 20th, I had the opportunity to present a talk at the Ecology on Tap event. The main goal of Ecology on Tap is to educate a lay audience on ecology topics and bring attention to major environmental issues. My presentation, titled “A Burp Away from a Climate

5. Arrivals & Departures

  1. Welcome to the Center: Alexander Jones

    Alexander Jones. Photo by Alexander Jones

    By Alex Jones

    Alexander M. Jones holds an M.S. in Environmental Studies with a focus on sustainable agroecological systems and a B.S in Environmental and Plant Biology from Ohio University. He previously served as Director of Cultivation where he helped design an award-winning controlled

  2. Visitors from NHK

    Filming at Waterman Farms. Photo by Alexander Jones

    The Lal Carbon Center was so pleased to welcome three filmmakers from Japan – Shu Hirayama, Nagamitsu Endo, and Kazue Shirai – who visited the Center to interview Dr. Rattan Lal for an upcoming documentary about chernozems for the Japanese Broadcasting Company, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK).

6. The Lal Carbon Center Near & Far

  1. MACS-G20

    A group of people at the Institute of Permaculture and Ecovillage of the Cerrado (Cerrado Center) sitting in a circle on chairs on straw with a field of sunflowers behind them lecture about the Center by a man in front of an easel.

    May 15, 2024 • Brasília, Brazil

    At the annual Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists for the G20 countries (MACS-G20), Dr. Lal addressed attendees with a lecture entitled Global Environmental and Food Security: Importance of Agriculture focused on the intersection of

  2. Meeting of Leaders of Rurality of the Americas

    Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture logo

    Strengthening Rurality through Sustainable, Resilient, and Inclusive Production

    April 17, 2024 • San Jose, Costa Rica

    The first ever meeting of the Leaders of Rurality of the Americas was organized by the Inter-American Institute

  3. 31st Dr. B.P. Pal Memorial Lecture

    Brochure from the 31st Dr. B.P. Pal Memorial Lecture featuring Speaker Dr. Rattan Lal

    May 29, 2024 • New Delhi, India

    This annual lecture is given in honor of esteemed Indian agronomist, Benjamin Peary Pal, who served as the director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), as well as the first Director General of the Indian Council of

  4. National Meeting of the Direct Planting System (FEBRAPDP)

    Dr. Juca Sa and Dr. Rattan Lal holding a certificate and coffee tumbler from the National Meeting of the Direct Planting System

    July 7, 2024 • Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Dr. Lal addressed 800+ attendees at the National Meeting of the Direct Planting System in Brazil on July 7, 2024, and event held every two years for the Brazilian Federation of Direct Planting Systems (FEBRAPDP), with a

7. Quarterly Publications

  1. Sustainability Volume 16 Issue 13

    Handheld In Situ Methods for Soil Organic Carbon Assessment by Nancy Loria, Rattan Lal, and Ranveer Chandra is available in Sustainability Volume 16, Issue 13. 

    Article available here: go.osu.edu/in-situ

  2. List of Publications

    Refereed Journal Articles
    Chapters in Multi-Authored Books
    Keynote Presentations

  3. C-FARM: Soil Health Logbook

    Cover of the Lal Carbon Center Soil Health Logbook

    The Lal Carbon Center and the Carbon Farming Alliance for Research and Management (C-FARM) are pleased to announce the launch of a new tool for farmers tracking the health of their soils. 

    Conceived by Dr. Rattan Lal and Healther Neikirk of the Stark Sustainable Soil Initiative (SSSI)

8. A Parting Thought

  1. A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the ... Helmet?

    Baby robins inside a bike helmet outside of Kottman Hall. Photo by Klaus Lorenz

    Senior Researcher Klaus Lorenz spotted a guest outside Kottman Hall in early May of 2024. A robin chose a cozy bike helmet left by SENR students to lay her eggs in. By all accounts the babies safely hatched a few weeks later. Hopefully, they can grow up to become excellent stewards of their