Agroecology Lab
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Asmeret Asefaw BerhePresident's Postdoctoral Fellow
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EDUCATION
Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy and Management (Biogeochemistry), University of California, Berkeley. 2006.
Dissertation: Storage, Replacement, Stabilization, and Destabilization of Soil Organic Carbon in Eroding and Depositional Settings
M.Sc. in Resource Development (Political Ecology), Michigan State University. 2000.
Thesis: Landmines and Land Degradation: A Regional Political Ecology Perspective on the Impacts of Landmines on Environment and Development in the Developing World
B.Sc. in Soil and Water Conservation, University of Asmara. 1996.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
I am a soil scientist; my work focuses on the individual role and interactions of different biotic and abiotic processes that affect ecosystem functions of the critical zone. The broad objective of my research is to improve our understanding of (a) the role anthropogenic disturbances play in altering the dynamics of natural processes in the pedosphere, and its interactions with the atmosphere and hydrosphere on one hand and (b) how the landuse choices that humans make are influenced by complex dynamics between socio-politico-economic, demographic, biological, chemical and physical factors on the other. Within this context I have been working to better understand how geomorphology affects the formation, transport, storage, stabilization and destabilization of soil organic carbon (SOC), physical and chemical associations of SOC with the mineral matrix, and the associated biochemical transformations of the organic constituents in the soil system. At the Six lab in UC Davis, I am working as a postdoctoral fellow in a project that investigates the dynamics of deep soil organic matter. I received my Ph.D. at UC Berkeley under the supervision of Prof. John Harte, Dr. Margaret S. Torn (LBL) and Dr. Jennifer W. Haden (US Gelogical Survey, Menlo Park). For my postdoc, I also work with Prof. Jill Banfield at UC Berkeley to understand the effect of changing amount and seasonality of rainfall on soil carbon storage and stabilization, and the role of Fe oxides in soil organic carbon stabilization.