Rounak Patra recently joined the lab as a Ph.D. student. Rounak is an aspiring soil ecologist. He received an integrated B.S. and M.S. degree from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Kolkata, India. His M.S. research focused on answering ecological questions in the eastern Himalayas. Welcome Rounak!

Xiuwen Li successfully defended her MS thesis on June 27. 2019. Her research focused on “Biochar Amendments for Enhanced Nitrogen use, Soil Health and Plant Growth”. Congratulations to Xiuwen and we wish her the best for future endeavors.

Manuel Sabbagh, our MS student, successfully defended his MS thesis on May 15, 2019. His MS research focused on determining the effects of cover crop species on residue decomposition and soil nitrogen availability. Many congratulations to Manny and best wishes for his future!!!

Xiuwen Li, our MS student, wins the Graduate Student with Professional Promise in Environmental and Soil Science award at the BESS annual banquet. Congratulations to Xiuwen!!!

The Office of Undergraduate Research and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions hosted the 2^nd annual Research Day event on March 30, 2019 to expose the high school students to the innovative research at the University of Tennessee. The theme of our department’s demonstration was “Supporting Our Growing Planet through Innovative Research in Food, Energy, Water and Soil”. We showcased the ‘Soils’ station and we demonstrated the need for protecting soil for the future generations. It was a successful event. We got to interact with many high school students and introduced them about the research we conduct.

The lab attended the American Society of Agronomy – Southern Branch meeting in Birmingham, AL from February 3-5, 2019. PhD student Surendra Singh won first place in the poster competition category for PhD students. In total, we delivered four posters and two oral presentations.

Jagadamma lab attended the American Society of Agronomy annual meeting held in Baltimore, MD from November 4 – 7, 2018. Xiuwen Li (MS student) and Shikha Singh (PhD student) presented posters while Surendra Singh (PhD student) delivered both a poster and an oral presentation. Shikha Singh received first prize for her poster presentation organized by the “Soil carbon and greenhouse gas emissions community” and Surendra Singh received first prize for his poster presentation organized by the “Soil Health Community”. The students also participated in the Diversity Poster Competition organized by ACS Diversity Committee, in which Shikha Singh secured the first position and Surendra Singh secured the third position.

University of Tennessee, Soil Judging Team won the National Soil Judging Competition and Emily Belanger (undergraduate student in our lab) was a part of that team. Congratulations to the team!!! More details can be found at  https://ag.tennessee.edu/news/Pages/2018-03-SoilScienceWin.aspx 

Please go to:

http://agresearch.tennessee.edu/news/show.asp?which=747