Agroecology Lab
 |
Kristin GroteM.Sc. student
|
EDUCATION
Master of Science in International Agricultural Development, University of California at Davis, expected December 2006. Advisor: Dr. Johan Six
Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, Grinnell College, Grinnell IA, with Honors, May 2002.
St. Lawrence University Kenya Semester Program, Fall 2001.
Senior Research Project: International Development and Pastoralism in Kenya
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) face nutrient depleted fields, inadequate access to agricultural inputs, and resource limitations that constrain on-farm nutrient cycling options for soil fertility management. The limited success of agricultural programs focusing on either external inputs or on-farm nutrient cycling, and research showing the potential for added benefits from combining mineral fertilizers and organic resources, have lead to the development of the Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) paradigm for SSA agricultural development. The technical recommendation of ISFM is the combined use of mineral and organic resources to capture potential interactive effects, including increases in crop yield and environmental benefits, while mitigating against the economic constraints of using either input alone. Before development interventions involving ISFM can be successfully implemented throughout SSA, the mechanisms underlying the interactive effect of combined applications, and the variability of these effects across soil textures and organic resource quality must be understood. My study is part of a larger NSF funded project focusing on C and N cycling across ecozones in SSA. It consists of a six month incubation with the objective of determining the effects of combining (relatively) low and high quality organic residues and mineral N fertilizer additions on aggregate turnover, and therefore C and N cycling in two SSA soils.