CSU Channel Islands is proud to host this 2026 CALPACS Pi Day Talk featuring the Honorable Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, a Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry and Falasco Chair at the University of California, Merced on Saturday, March 7th at 11:30am in Aliso Hall 150.
Beneath the Surface: What’s Soil Got to do with Climate Change?
Featured Speaker: Honorable Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
Date: Saturday, March 7th
Time: 11:30am - 1:30pm (lunch provided)
Location: Aliso Hall 150, CSU Channel Islands
Co-sponsored by: Oxnard College STEM (OC STEM), Project Ayudas, CSU-SPaRA, and ESRM at CSUCI
Dr. Berhe previously served as Director of the United States Department of Energy's Office of Science (Senate confirmed, Presidential nomination) and Associate Dean for Graduate Education at UC Merced. Dr. Berhe's research bridges the disciplines of soil science, geochemistry, global change science, and political ecology. Her research aims to improve our understanding of the soil system's role in regulating the Earth's climate; how soil carbon and nutrient cycles respond to environmental changes, including climate change, land-use changes, erosion, and wildfires; and the dynamic two-way relationship between soil and human communities. She holds the distinction of being an elected member of the United States National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of both the American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America, and recipient of many other awards and honors.
ABSTRACT: The soil system stores twice as much carbon as the atmosphere and all the world's vegetation combined. The exchange of greenhouse gases between the soil and the atmosphere controls the composition of the earth's climate. Over the last two centuries, human actions have increased the flux of greenhouse gases from soil to the atmosphere. Recent studies highlight soil management's role in reversing the increasing concentrations of greenhouses in the atmosphere by implementing climate-smart land management practices. This presentation will discuss the fundamental mechanisms by which the soil system controls the earth's climate and the potential of different land management practices to bend the curve of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In addition, Dr. Berhe will discuss her career trajectory from being a professor to leading one of the largest science funding agencies in the nation, infusing the perspective of an earth system scientist into science policy.
