The Sequestration: Lal Carbon Center Newsletter Winter 2025

Kottman Hall in Winter

Welcome to the 2025 Winter Edition of The Sequestration, containing in-depth news about events at the Lal Carbon Center this season. We are pleased to announce that this issue of The Sequestration is digital only to meet ADA standards.  

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1. Top Stories

  1. Dr. Soledad Benitez Ponce of Plant Pathology presented a seminar on Friday, January 24th entitled Exploring the Links Between Microbial Communities, Soil

  2. Dr. Lal celebrated World Soil Day with a series of presentations around the world! The theme of this year's World Soil Day was "Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage." Dr. Lal flew to his native India to give his World Soil Day presentations in person at the conference on December 6th for

  3. The 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) occurred this year from Monday, November 11 to Friday, November 22, 2024, in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. Dr.

  4. The Lal Carbon Center would like to extend a hearty congratulations to Dr. Alan Franzluebbers, USDA-ARS, for his excellent presentation Soil carbon as a metric of influence to integrate science and

2. Quarterly Viewpoint

  1. From the Desk of Professor Rattan Lal

    Conference of Parties (COP) is held annually ever since the first COP in Berlin in 1995, and it was attended by 118 countries. The COP meeting in 1997 was organized in Japan and is well known as the “Kyoto Protocol.” The Paris Accord

3. Center Updates

  1. Cows grazing in a field at the Canyonlands Research Center outside of Canyonlands National Park. Photo courtesy Thys Reynolds.

    By Thys Reynolds

    Last fall, Nate Ducasse, Leanna Hayes, and Thys Reynolds drove for more than 4,500 miles across Utah to sample 45 fields from a dozen farmers in seven different counties.

    For context, that’s just slightly further than driving from Utah to Panama

  2. Dr. Ribeiro presents at the ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting

    Grazing and Hay Systems in Ohio

    By Ricardo Ribeiro and Marilia Chiavegato

    Our team is studying how different forage management practices for grazing and hay affect soil carbon stocks and soil health in Ohio. We are evaluating various strategies,

  3. Soil aggregates under meadow at a farm in Pickaway County. Please click for full size image. Photo by Yadunath Bajgai

    By Yadunath Bajgai

    Besides other soil properties, core samples are used for determination of bulk density, water-holding capacity and hydraulic properties in seven soil series (Blount, Warsaw, Pewamo, Eldean, Spinks, Gilpin and Coshocton) in Ohio. Water holding

  4. By Sonam Rustagi

    This past fall, Sonam Rustagi interned with the Biden-Harris Administration White House Council on Environmental Quality. She worked in the Conservation (Lands) team and supported the staff in their work with establishing protected spaces such as

  5. Figure 1. Pressure plate instrument. Photo courtesy M.N.H. Munna.

    The Thirsty Soil: Strategic Enhancement of Water Retention Through Ecological Soil Management
    By Md. Nayem Hasan Munna

    In my ongoing research at the Lal Carbon Center, I am investigating how cover crops and organic amendments such as compost influence the plant-

  6. Dr. Ahmed Elgharably in the Environmental Soil Physics Lab in Kottman Hall at The Ohio State University. Photo courtesy Ahmed Elgharably. Please click for full image.

    Dr. Ahmed Elgharably, Professor in the Department of Soils and Water at Assiut University, Egypt, is researching soil emissions of CO2 and N2O as a Visiting Fellow at the Lal Carbon Center at The Ohio State University in 2025.

  7. Graduate Student Chinmayee Priyadarshini in the field for the NIFA project

    By Chinmayee Priyadarshini

    PhD student Chinmayee Priyadarshini has been working on the Impacts of Agricultural Systems on the Dynamics And Functions of Soil and Tomato-Associated Microbiome and Productivity project with Dr. Ye Xia and Dr. Rattan Lal for the

  8. The Lal Carbon Center was very happy to receive a visit from Dr. Daniel Abreu, Assistant Professor at the Federal University of Mato Grosso in Cuiabá, Brazil, along with Dr.

  9. The Lal Carbon Center was so pleased to have a surprise holiday visit from Bsanthi Thavamani, an Ohio State MSc student who studied soil science at Wooster under the guidance of Dr. Warren Dick.

4. Near & Far

  1. Dr. Rattan Lal with Councilmember Christopher Wyche. Photo courtesy Beau Ingle.

    At the City Council Ceremonial Resolutions Event on Monday, November 25, 2024, at 4:00pm in Council Chambers, Dr. Rattan Lal was among those honored at a public ceremony held for notable organizations and residents from across the Columbus.

  2. Dr. Lal receives his IASWC Lifetime Achievement Award at IARI. Photo courtesy TAAS and IARI.

    During his trip to India in December 2024, Dr. Lal was honored to be invited to participate in the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) Alumni Association Celebration with Dr.

  3. Dr. Asmita Murumkar presents a poster at AGU24. Photo courtesy Asmita Murumkar.

    The Lal Carbon Center commends our colleagues who presented at the American Geophysical Union 24 Annual Meeting from December 9 - 13th, 2024. The annual event, with the 2024 theme of "What's Next for Science?" was well

  4. By Heather Neikirk and Gunadish Khanal

    Dr. Gunadhish Khanal, Postdoctoral Scholar, Stark Sustainable Soils Initiative (SSSI), Lal Carbon Sequestration and Management Center and Heather Neikirk,Co-PI, SSSI and Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, OSU

  5. Group photo during the Soil Microbial Ecology Lab Tour

    The Lal Carbon Center was pleased to visit the Soil Microbial Ecology Laboratory on Monday, November 18, 2024 with Soil Microbiologist and Researcher Dr. Nicola Lorenz, who is the Project and Lab Manager there. Lal Carbon Center members toured the facilities and learned about several ongoing

5. Arrivals & Departures

  1. By Dr. Muhammad Ansar Farooq

    Dr. Farooq is an Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) in Pakistan, with a distinguished academic career beginning in 2017 at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. He

  2. Portrait of Ritika Dharamkar

    By Ritika Dharamkar

    Ritika Dharamkar earned her Master of Science degree in Information Technology from the University of Cincinnati and previously worked with Amazon as a Senior Data Analyst. With extensive experience in data analytics, fraud and abuse detection,

  3. Dr. Gunadhish Khanal with colleagues in Stark County. Photo by Gunadhish Khanal.

    By Gunadhish Kanal

    As I prepare to leave the Lal Carbon Center at the end of the month, I want to express my sincere gratitude for the invaluable experiences and knowledge I have gained here. Working on the Cover Crop Impacts on Soil Carbon Inferred by Modeling and Soil

  4. Dr. Noor-Us-Sabah with Dr. Rattan Lal in Kottman Hall. Photo by Hannah Shively.

    By Noor Us Sabah

    I want to express my sincere gratitude for the wonderful experience working alongside such a supportive team. I'll truly miss the time I spent at the CFAES Rattan Lal Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration. I would like to expand my gratitude to

  5. By Vaírton Radmann

    I want to thank God for giving me the health to complete my postdoctoral studies at the Lal Carbon Center. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Dr. Rattan Lal for the opportunity and all that he provided to me to complete my postdoctoral studies. I

  6. By Hannah Shively

    I learned so much from my experience at the Lal Carbon Center that I will take with me throughout my career. I am grateful to Dr. Lal for giving me the opportunity to work with him and the researchers, scholars, and students at the center.

  7. Portrait of Maggie Willis

    By Maggie Willis

    I'm so glad to have an opportunity to contribute to the Lal Carbon Center over the years, and I'm grateful for all that I've learned. The work for my position has grown beyond part-time, and I have realized how important it is to have someone handling

6. In the News

  1. The Sustainability Institute (SI) awarded two separate research grants to Brittany Multer Hopkins, PhD candidate in the School of Environment and Natural Resources, to help advance her research in discovering carbon sequestration capabilities in soil. Please click the link for the article. 

  2. Açaí seedlings. Photo courtesy Vaírton Radmann

    By Diovana Rodrigues (Decon/Fapeam)

    The Amazonas State Research Support Foundation (FAPEAM - Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas), featured an article about the research of Lal Carbon Center Visiting Scholar Vairton Radmann. Please click more for an

  3. Cows grazing in a field. Photo courtesy Farm and Dairy

    By Heather Neikirk

    Heather Neikirk writes about the ways regenerative grazing improves soil health in Farm and Dairy. Please click the link for the article. 

  4. Healthy soil is darker in color, crumbly and porous, and is home to worms and other living organisms. Photo courtesy Farm and Dairy

    By Heather Neikirk

    Heather Neikirk writes about the complexities of building regenerative, healthy pasture systems in Farm and Dairy. Please click the link for the article. 

  5. Congratulations to Lal Carbon Center graduate student Anna Kolganova, who has been invited to give an oral presentation at the 39th Hayes Forum! The Forum had the largest applicant pool in more than ten years this year, but because of her favorable evaluation from the Forum

7. Publications & Presentations

  1. Congratulations to Brittany Multer Hopkins on the publication of her latest article in Science of the Total Environment.

  2. The Lal Carbon Center is pleased to present a draft of its newest publication The ABCs of Soil by Rattan Lal and Maggie Willis, illustrated by Maggie Willis.

  3. El-Beltagy, A., R. Lal, K. Malik. 2024. Climate Change and Sustainable Agro-ecology in Global Drylands. Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International. ISBN: 978-1-80062-485-6. 
  4. Adhikari, A., Y. Bajgai, J. Rabgyal, R. Lal, N. Tshering, et al. 2024. Altitude, Land Use and Soil Depth Effects on Earthworm Density and its Relationship to Soil Properties in an On-Farm Study. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition. doi:

  5. 'Silva, J., & McKenna, C. (Eds.). (2024). Regenerative Farming and Sustainable Diets: Human, Animal and Planetary Health (1st ed.). Routledge. Part 2, Chapter 7: Regenerative Farming and Sustainable Diets: Human, Animal, and Planetary Health. 

  6. Lal, R. 2024. Sustainable Management of Soil Health and Agriculture for Addressing Global Issues of 21st Century. 2024 Winter Enrichment Program, KAUST, Jedda, Saudi Arabia, 9th January, 2024.

  7. Miscellaneous

8. Contact Us

  1. The Lal Carbon Center (Rattan Lal Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration) is part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES)

  2. Would you like to learn about advancements in soil science as they happen?