Abstract:
Understanding the role of plants and soil in the Earth's carbon cycle is crucial for developing effective natural solutions to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A new initiative at LLNL focuses on the potential of deep-rooted plants native to California that have been planted in a dedicated carbon garden. These plants actively take in carbon dioxide and channel it into the soil, where various transformations help ensure that carbon remains sequestered. The site is equipped with advanced instrumentation to continuously measure the carbon flow between the plants and the soil. Find out how accelerator mass spectrometry is used to quantify the carbon stored in the soil.Join us to learn more about this innovative climate initiative taking place in LLNL's backyard.
Bios:
Kari Finstad received her Ph. D. in Ecosystem Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research is broadly focused on carbon cycling in soils and minerals at the surface and in the subsurface. She uses different measurement techniques to understand the geochemical and biological processes occurring in these systems and how they impact carbon cycling and storage.
Shannon Brown received a B. Sc. in Earth and Atmospheric Science, an M. Sc. in Geography, and a Ph. D. in Micrometeorology, all from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. She recently brought her skills in researching the movement of greenhouse gases between the earth's surface and the atmosphere to LLNL to study carbon cycling from agricultural, humandisrupted, and natural systems. She is currently a staff scientist in the Center for Accelerated Mass Spectrometry.
Erin M. McKay received her B. S. in Biology with an emphasis in Plant Biology and her science teaching credential from the University of California, Davis. While attending UC Davis, she interned at AgraQuest. She is a Biology teacher at Tracy High School in Tracy, CA. She also is a Faculty Scholar in the LLNL Science Education program at LLNL.