Research

My research focuses on agricultural methods that promote soil conservation and amelioration. This involves work on conservation tillage, carbon and nitrogen cycling, soil fertility management, and residue management.


Soil conservation is important because it is the foundation of all civilization. It takes 500 years to build up one inch of soil, but poor soil management can destroy that inch in a single year, silting up dams and waterways, with its associated loss of aquatic habitat, while making the land less productive. It is much better to implement conservation practices then try to remediate depleted land.
Below are links to descriptions of my research.

No-till collard production with high biomass cover crops and organic mulches

 

Decomposition rates of organic mulches

 

Alley cropping