MR OLUDARE DURODOLA

Biography

2021 - present: PhD in Geosciences

University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom

The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, United Kingdom

• • Thesis title: Optimising water use and soil carbon sequestration - can agricultural co-cropping systems provide multiple benefits to address climate change?

2018 - 2020: MSc Water Engineering (Distinction)

Abou Bekr Belkaid University of Tlemcen and Pan African University Institute of Water and Energy Sciences (PAUWES), Tlemcen, Algeria

• • Thesis title: Simulating the impacts of climate change on water and crop productivity in Ogun-Osun River Basin, Nigeria

2010 - 2015: B.Tech Hons Agricultural Engineering (First Class)

Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria

• • Project title: Development and evaluation of an oil palm fruits digester

Research Overview

• Nature Based Solutions
• Soil Science
• Hydrology and Hydrological Modelling
• Stable Water Isotopes 
• Ecology
• Water-Food-Climate Change Nexus

Current Research

Research title: Optimising water use and soil carbon sequestration - can agricultural co-cropping systems provide multiple benefits to address climate change?

Despite the potentials of agricultural co-cropping systems (known as intercrops in some contexts) in improving yields, enhanced water use, and other multiple benefits (e.g. biodiversity, soil health), it is still considered experimental and not yet widely practiced in Scotland. Therefore, there is a need to study the role of water availability on competitive water use between co-existing crops and how this interacts with soil carbon. The degree to which complementary resource use (e.g. water uptake from different soil depths) occurs is controlled by factors including climate, resource availability, plant traits and management practices. The success of co-cropping systems therefore depends on hydrological, eco-physiological and biogeochemical interlinkages via plant-soil-water interactions. Associated water and carbon cycles are tightly coupled, but they are mostly studied in isolation, so that feedbacks and thresholds are poorly understood. This research focuses on disentangling these interactions to gain a better understanding of the processes underlying optimal co-cropping systems for multiple benefits, including water use and carbon sequestration. Ultimately, the research will explore co-cropping systems as a solution for sustainable water use and soil carbon sequestration, thereby ensuring food security in Scotland and globally in the face of climate change.

The research is funded through the Scottish Hydro Nation Scholarship Programme and involves collaboration with the James Hutton Institute.