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Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe. Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry, and Falasco Chair in Earth Sciences at the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced.
Seminar Abstract: The soil system stores twice as much more carbon than the atmosphere and all of the world’s vegetation combined. Exchange of greenhouse gases between the soil and the atmosphere control composition of the earth’s climate. Over the last two centuries, human actions have increased the flux of greenhouse gases from soil to the atmosphere. Recent studies are highlighting the role of soil management to reverse the increasing concentrations of greenhouses in the atmosphere by implementation of climate smart land management practices. This presentation will include discussion on fundamental mechanisms by which soil system controls the earth’s climate, and potential of different land management practices to bend the curve of increasing concentrations of greenhouses gases in the atmosphere. Specifically, I will discuss role of deep soils in controlling soil carbon storage and surface carbon dioxide efflux.
Further Information
Other appointments: Interim Dean of the Graduate Division at UC Merced; Past Chair of the US National Committee on Soil Science at the National Academies; Associate Editor of AGU’s Journal of Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences and Elementa.
Education: Ph.D. in Biogeochemistry from the University of California (UC), Berkeley; M. Sc. in Resource Development (Political Ecology) from Michigan State University, and B. Sc. in Soil and Water Conservation from University of Asmara, Eritrea. Postdoc: University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley and UC Davis.
Research focus: biogeochemical cycling of essential elements (esp. carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus) in the soil system.
Recognitions: recipient of several awards and honors, including Fellow and Joanne Simpson Medal recipient from the American Geophysical Union; Fellow and Bromery Award recipient from the Geological Society of America; the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award, and is a member of the inaugural class of the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine's New Voices in Science, Engineering, and Medicine.
Further info: https://www.aaberhe.com | CV
Contact info: aaberhe@ucmerced.edu | Twitter: @aaberhe
Name pronunciation: https://namedrop.io/asmeretasefawberhe
- Speaker
- Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
- Hosted by
- Paul Hallett