The Sequestration: Lal Carbon Center Newsletter Winter 2024

The Sequestration Winter 2024 CoverWelcome to the 2024 Winter Edition of The Sequestration. Please click here to access a PDF version of this newsletter, or read on to access our digital version. 

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1. Front Page

  1. Dr. Matthew Hamilton presents to undergraduate students interested in soil carbon dynamics. Photo courtesy Maggie Willis.

    The Lal Carbon Center successfully hosted its inaugural Carbon Academy Workshop on November 17, 2023, at the Priva Gathering Space located in the new Controlled Environment Agriculture Research Complex (CEARC), part of Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory.

2. Quarterly Viewpoint

  1. The two week-long conference in Dubai (1-12 December 2023) was attended by 154 Heads of States and Government, and 85,000 participants from around the world.

3. Center Events

  1. Group photo of Lal Carbon Center members. Photo courtesy João Carlos Sá.

    By Hannah Shively

    The Lal Carbon Center hosted their faculty, staff, researchers, and students for a Fall Feast Potluck to celebrate the season.

  2. Photo courtesy Sonam Rustagi

    Sonam Rustagi, a first year M.Sc student, will be spending part of the spring semester working on Capitol Hill. 

  3. His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand in 2010. Appropriately, the name “Bhumibol” means “Protector of Soils.” Source: Wikipedia

    In honor of World Soil Day on 5th December 2023, the Lal Carbon Center hosted an online celebration with colleagues from the C-FARM project and within Ohio State. Dr. Rattan Lal briefly discussed the history of World Soil Day

  4. The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is pleased to release two supplemental workbooks for the AGRIMAN AGventures comic book series, filled with lots of “ag-tivities” for children 4-7 and 8-12!

4. Arrivals & Farewells

  1. Photo courtesy Toru Nakajima

    Dr. Toru Nakajima has been an Associate Professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture (TUA) in the Department of Agricultural Engineering since 2017.

  2. Photo courtesy Brennan Spaulding

    Brennan Spaulding is joining the Lal Carbon Center as our new Research Technician.

  3. Photo courtesy Vaírton Radmann

    Vaírton Radmann, Associate Professor at the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), joins the Lal Carbon Center as a Visiting Fellow completing a Postdoctoral degree.

  4. Photo courtesy Muhammad Adnan

    I am sincerely grateful and take immense pride in being a part of the CFAES Rattan Lal Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration as a Fulbright Postdoc Research Scholar.

  5. Photo courtesy Md. Nayem Hasan Munna

    Md. Nayem Hasan Munna is joining the Lal Carbon Center to pursue a Ph.D. degree at the School of Environment and Natural Resources in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, specializing in Soil Science.

  6. Photo courtesy Chinmayee Priyadarshni

    Chinmayee Priyadarshini is joining the Lal Carbon Center as a Ph.D graduate student in Spring of 2024. She received her B.Sc. in Agricultural and Allied Sciences in 2019 from Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, India.

5. Project Updates

  1. One of two fields under study in Franklin County Ohio for this project. Photo courtesy Klaus Lorenz.
    The Lal Carbon Center launches a new project with CNH Industrial

    The Lal Carbon Center is proud to announce a new project with CNH Industrial started in 2023 and led by Principal Investigator Rattan Lal, Co-PI Klaus Lorenz.

  2. Yadunath Bajgai, C-FARM Research Scientist stands in front of winter wheat grown under no-till farming systems after soybean harvest at a farm in Wyandot county, Ohio in December 2023. Besides grain production, the winter wheat strategically acts as cover crop to protect soil over the winter.

    By Yadunath Bajgai

    A review of literature on the topic entitled ‘On-Farm Conservation Agriculture Practices Effects on Soil Health and Agronomic Productivity in the Midwestern USA’ has been completed and a summary is as follows.

  3. “The perfect carbon picture doesn’t exi—”  Photo depicts cows grazing in fields in front of factories in Kansas. Photo courtesy DeAnn Presley:

    The C-FARM Principal Investigators are planning the 2nd Annual C-FARM Conference in the last week of March 2024.

  4. By Carla Gavilan

    The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region is home to a diverse range of countries that are particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change, mainly due to the unique land use, land tenure systems, and the various ecosystems in the region.

  5. Postdoctoral Researcher Gunadhish Khanal (far left) with interns Nathan Shumaker and Jalen Gilbert (left to right) and Postdoctoral Researcher Lauren Baldarelli (far right) collect soil samples. Photo courtesy Lauren Baldarelli.
    Sponsored by the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation, the project completes its fourth year

    By Lauren Baldarelli

    Principal Investigators Dr. Rattan Lal and Heather Neikirk worked to bring the Stark Sustainable Soils Initiative into its fourth year with Postdoctoral Researcher

  6. Gunadhish Khanal loads a car with corn samples.  Photo courtesy Lauren Baldarelli.

    By Gunadhish Khanal

    Dr. Gunadhish Khanal joined the Kent State and Herbert W. Hoover sponsored project Cover crop impacts on soil carbon inferred by modeling and soil optical properties in September of 2023.

6. Near & Far

  1. San Jose, Costa Rica — 3rd-4th October, 2023

    Dr. Lal traveled to Costa Rica from 3rd – 4th October 2023 as IICA Ambassador for Sustainable Development Issues to attend the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas

  2. Ben Guerir, Morocco - 7th October, 2023

    On the 7th October 2023, Dr. Lal traveled to Morocco to attend a scientific event titled “The Voice of Africa” put on by The Mohamed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P).

  3. Georgetown, Guyana — 19th-20th October, 2023

    The Agri-Investment Forum and Expo that was hosted by the Government of Guyana, Ministry of Agriculture of Guyana, and the CARICOM Secretariat on the 19th- 20th of October. ​

  4. Boston, Massachusetts, USA — 26th-27th October 2023

    Harvard Medical School, with Balachundar Subramaniam, MD, held the Consciousness – Science, Spirituality and Social Impact conference

  5. Ben Guerir, Morocco — 23rd November 2023

    The Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) put on a special soil health event hosted by the Chair of Soil Sciences in collaboration with the Institute for Advanced Stud

  6. Dubai, United Arab Emirates — 10th December 2023

    Dr. Lal traveled to Dubai in December in order to attend COP28 (The 28th Conference of the Parties), which is the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties to work together on solutions to tackle climate change.

7. In the News

  1. The internationally renowned researcher and World Food Prize winner views soil health as a vehicle to solve food insecurity and climate change.

    By Randy Edwards at Columbus Monthly

8. Publications

  1. Books Written  
  2. Hannah Shively has designed some lovely maps illustrating the global impact of the Center. Explore the maps by clicking this link!

  3. The Lal Carbon Center wishes you a wonderful 2024. Click here to see our animated Season's Greeting card for 2023.