January 06, 2022
No-tillage sorghum and garbanzo yields match or exceed standard tillage yields
Mitchell, J.P. et al.
California Agriculture, 2022
Motivated by the need to sustainably and equitably support a growing world population, we study the physical underpinnings that make soil a habitable environment. Our research blends fundamental environmental and soil physics with applications in agroecology and environmental stewardship.
Inclusivity and equity are the basis for the topics we study, how we treat one another, and how we engage with our community.
Summer Reesearch Experience for Undergraduates
Accepting applications until January 20, 2022
The BRAAG partnership provides summer research and professional development opportunity for geosciences students from three HBCUs -- Kentucky State University, Tennesse State University, and Howard University. At UC Merced, we will provide partipcipants with an immersive and enriching research experience over eight weeks, along with multi-tiered mentoring and sponsoring of the students we recruit long after they complete their summer research at UC Merced.
Areas of Interest
Flow & Transport
Dynamic soil properties, such aggregation and disaggregation cycles, and associated effects on flow and tranport in soils.
Machine Learning & AI
Physics-informed Deep Learning and application of Machine Learning in soil and environmental problems
Hydro-Biogeochem
Hydrologic factors that control biogeochemical processes including effects of soil structure and wetting/drying cycles on soil respiration.
AgroEcology
Conservation tillage, inter-cropping of native shrubs and food crops, and applications of organic matter and biochar on water and nutrient use efficiency.
Latest Research Articles
November 03, 2021
Intercropping with Guiera senegalensis in a semi-arid area to mitigate early-season abiotic stress in A. hypogea and P. glaucum
Bayala, R. et al.
J. Agronomy & Crop Sci., 2021
October 26, 2021
An overlooked local resource--Shrub-intercropping for food production, drought resistance and ecosystem restoration in the Sahel.
Bright, MBH, et al.
Agricul., Ecosys. & Env., 319, 107523, 2021
May 25, 2021
Advances in soil moisture retrieval from multispectral remote sensing using unoccupied aircraft systems and machine learning techniques.
Araya, S.A., et al.
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.,, 25, 2739–2758, 2021
February 01, 2021
Physics-informed neural networks with monotocnicity constraints for Richardson-Richards equation--Estimation of constitutive relationships and soil water flux density from volumetric water content measurements.
Bandai, T. and T.A. Ghezzehei
Water Resources Research, 57(2), e2020WR027642, 2021.
December 17, 2020
Root uptake under mismatched distributions of water and nutrients in the root zone.
Yan, J., N.A. Bogie, and T.A. Ghezzehei
Biogeosciences, 17, 6377–6392, 2020.
Updates & News
Nitrogen Management Grant
January 01, 2022
We were funded by California Department of Agriculture, Fertilizer Research & Education Program to test a novel nitrogen management strategy, to be conducted at Kearney Fied Station.
Toshi and Yulissa present at SSSA 2021
November 08, 2021
Toshi and Yulissa presented their research results at the Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting, in Salk Lake City.
New USDA Water Grant
October 06, 2021
Securing a Climate Resilient Water Future for Agriculture & Ecosystems through Innovations in Measurement, Management & Markets
NSF Training Grant
September 20, 2021
New training grant on Convergence of Nano-engineered Devices for Environmental and Sustainable Applications
UC-HBCU Grant
August 10, 2021
Our Boosting Representation of African-Americans in the Geosciences (BRAAG) proposal funded
UFWH Best Poster Award
March 26, 2021
Congratulations Touyee for winning best poster award at \#UFWH2021
COURSES
ESS 110 Hydrology & Climate
Basics of the hydrological cycle and the global climate system. Fundamentals of surface water hydrology, hydrometeorology, evaporation, precipitation, statistical and probabilistic methods, unit hydrograph and flood routing.
ESS 112 Subsurface Hydrology
Hydrologic and geologic factors controlling the occurrence and use of groundwater on regional and local scales. Physical, mathematical, geologic and engineering concepts fundamental to subsurface hydrologic processes. Introduction to ground-water flow and transport modeling, with emphasis on model construction and simulation.
ES 228 Environmental Modeling
An advanced study of modeling environmental sciences. The first half of the course a survey of common modeling approaches of environmental phenomena. In the second half, student work on individual projects that involve modeling environmental systems or processes. Often students work on problems related to their thesis/dissertation area. (Graduate Only).
For Prospective Students
Like what you see here? We would love to hear from you if you have interest to join our lab as a student or to collaborate with us. You can find out about admission and degree requirements and offerings by visiting the websites of the Graduate Division and Environmental Systems Graduate Program (links are below).
