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Quantifying changes in agricultural soil organic carbon stocks

PhD defence, Friday 12 May 2023, Laura Sofie Harbo

Photo: Laura Sofie Harbo

During her studies, Laura Sofie Harbo have worked with soil data from the National Soil Grid of Denmark to quantify soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in agricultural mineral soils as well as the associated uncertainties. Interest in quantification of SOC stocks is increasing, as both governments and businesses are looking to store carbon in soil as a climate mitigation measure. Using the data from the Danish Soil Grid and farm management data, Laura has analyzed the effect of crops and management practices on SOC stock changes.

The new research contributes to the work of understanding the sources of uncertainty in the quantification of SOC stocks and the use of soil monitoring data to model future climate mitigation measures in agriculture.

The PhD degree was completed at the Department of Agroecology, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University and Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences with funding from Sino-Danish Centre for Research and Education.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student

Time: Friday May 12 2023, at 14:00
Place: 8814-3075, Auditorium, AU Viborg, Aarhus University, Blichers Alle 20, 8830 Tjele
Title: Quantifying changes in agricultural soil organic carbon stock
Contact information: Laura Sofie Harbo, email: lauraharbo@agro.au.dk, tel.: +45 22275732

Members of the assessment committee: 
Associate Professor Ingeborg Callesen, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen

Professor Stephen Ogle, Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University

Senior Researcher Henrik Skovgård (chair), Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University

Main Supervisors:
Professor Jørgen E. Olesen, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University

Professor Shenggong Li, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Co-supervisors: 
Associate Professor Lars Elsgaard, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University

Assistant Professor Zhi Liang, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University

Tenure Track Researcher Ji Chen, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University

Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English

This defence is public.

The PhD thesis is available for reading at the Graduate School of Technical Sciences/GSTS, Jens Baggesens Vej 53, building 5221, 8200 Aarhus N.