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COLLEGE OF FOOD, AGRICULTURAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

February 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

Soil Seminar with Dr. Soledad Benitez Ponce

Dr. Soledad Benitez Ponce of Plant Pathology presented a seminar on Friday, January 24th entitled Exploring the Links Between Microbial Communities, Soil Carbon, and Diverse Cropping Systems. At 3:00pm in Kottman Hall 460, 16 researchers, students, and faculty convened in-person, while 17 attended online.

World Soil Day 2024

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

2024 UN Climate Change Conference (COP29)

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.

Dr. Alan Franzluebbers presents the 2024 Rattan Lal Climate Lectureship

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 farming communities at the ASA SSSA CSSA Rattan Lal Climate Lectureship! Sponsored by the Agronomic Science Foundation and moderated by Dr. Shannon L. Osbourne, USDA-ARS, the event took place on Tuesday, November 12th, 2024 from 10:00am - 11:00am. It was established by Dr. Rattan Lal to support...

Quarterly Viewpoint

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 was signed at COP21 held in Paris in 2015, and 4 per 1000 (sequestration of Carbon in world soils at the rate of 0.4% per year to 40-cm depth) was also launched at COP21. In response to the Paris Agreement on Climate...

C-FARM: Reeve Team Update in Utah

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, or roughly the same as driving from Ohio State University to Los Angeles and back.

C-FARM: Chiavegato Team Update in Ohio

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, including forage diversity, grazing methods, and fertilization across 32 farms in 22 counties across the state. The participating farms represent a wide range of soil types, climates, and management practices. This diversity allows us to capture a...

C-FARM: Lal Team Update in Ohio

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 capacities or water retention capacities in different land use practices such as minimum-till, plough-till, no-till, forest and meadow in Ohio are being evaluated. Generally, soils under forest and meadow are likely to experience less...

C-FARM: Graduate Research in Washington, D.C.

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 national monuments, researching and drafting memos for the Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Brenda Mallory, and working with other components within the White House Executive Office of the President to further...

C-FARM: Graduate Research in Ohio

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-available water capacity (PAWC) of soil.

Visiting Fellow: Dr. Ahmed Elgharably

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.

NIFA: Graduate Research

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 National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Lal Carbon Center Visitor: Dr. Daniel Abreu

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.

Lal Carbon Center Visitor: Bsanthi Thavamani and Family

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.

Columbus City Council Ceremonial Resolutions Event

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.

IARI Alumni Association Celebration

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.

C-FARM at the American Geophysical Union 24 Annual Meeting

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 attended, with over 27,000 scientists, researchers, policymakers, and others present.

Stark Sustainable Soils Initiative: OSU Extension Annual Conference

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 Extension Stark County, greeted attendees during the “Meet the Author” poster session at the 2024 CFAES OSU Extension Bi-Annual Conference at the Downtown Hilton Hotel and Conference Center.

The Lal Carbon Center visits the Soil Microbial Ecology Lab

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 projects in the laboratory, including the research of Visiting Scientist Zhiping Liu, Ph.D., Research Scientist Associate, from China. Among the research discussed was a study on “Nitrogen fixation...

Welcome Muhammad Ansar Farooq

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 holds a Ph.D. in Natural Sciences from Universität Bielefeld, Germany, and has extensive experience in both academia and industry. From 2019 to 2021, he worked with Fauji Fertilizer Company, the largest fertilizer producer...

Welcome 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, machine learning, and risk management, she combines technical expertise with a passion for leveraging technology to solve real-world challenges. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from J.N.T.U, India, and has a strong...

Farewell 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 Optical Properties project and the Stark Soil Sustainability Initiative project has deepened my understanding of various aspects of soil health and its real-world applications.

Farewell Noor-Us-Sabah

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 Prof. Rattan Lal for providing me this opportunity and for giving me the chance to collaborate as part of the C-FARM project. Thank you for your guidance and support. Your leadership has had a lasting impact on my career....

Farewell Vaírton Radmann

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 want to thank all my colleagues and the staff at the Lal Carbon Center for the opportunity to meet you, for the time I spent with you, and for the learning I gained during that time.

Farewell Hannah Shively

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.

Farewell 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 this work who has a stronger background in environmental science, so I have decided to step away from my role and return to my family and my field. I plan to stay on a little longer as new hires come on, so you may still...

Congratulations to Brittany Multer Hopkins!

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.

Research, supported by the Government of Amazonas, provides technical and economic information on açaí cultivation

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 English translation of the article.

Regenerative grazing can aid soil

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.

Build healthy soil and sustainable ecosystems

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.

Upcoming Event: Edward F. Hayes Advanced Research Forum

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

Carbon capture potential and environmental impact of concrete weathering in soil

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

PREVIEW: The ABCs of Soil

PREVIEW: 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.

2024 Annual Publications: Books Edited

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.

2024 Annual Publications: Refereed Journal Articles

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: 10.1007/s42729-024-01990-9.

2024 Annual Publications: Chapters in Multi-Authored Books

'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. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032684369

2024 Annual Publications: Keynotes and Other Presentations

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.

2024 Annual Publications: Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

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