Texas A&M AgriLife Research center begins eight sustainable agriculture, forestry projects
Seed grants kick off studies on sustainability practices across forestry, livestock and cropping systems
The Hood Family Center for Greenhouse Gas Management in Agriculture and Forestry, a joint center of Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Texas A&M University, will fund eight two-year projects.
The multidisciplinary projects aim to advance the center’s mission to bring together expertise across Texas A&M to advance the abilities of agriculture and forestry systems to meet a modern paradigm of safe, affordable food and fiber production on thriving working lands.
The funding was awarded to faculty of Texas A&M College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, AgriLife Research and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service through the center’s competitive 2026 Seed Grants program launched in 2023.
“This funding paves the way for this important work to advance the strategic priorities of AgriLife Research to lead new discoveries, technology development and emerging practices that benefit the state, the U.S. and the world.” said G. Cliff Lamb, Ph.D., director of AgriLife Research.
Early support for these ideas will help faculty drive research from concept to larger research projects. The funded projects will measure, monitor, report and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture and forestry, said Nithya Rajan, Ph.D., director of the center and AgriLife Research agronomy and agroecology professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences.
“The Hood Family Foundation’s generous support has enabled us to provide seed grants for innovative ideas pursued by our faculty,” Rajan said. “These grants are often essential for exploring a new concept, evaluating its feasibility and potential impact, and generating the preliminary results needed to support larger initiatives in the future. We are excited about the possible discoveries that lie ahead.”
Grant-funded research projects
Below are the funded grants and investigators, all located in Bryan-College Station unless otherwise noted:
- Greenhouse Gas Dynamics and Carbon Storage in Restoring Bottomland Forests
Zhongqian “Zoe” Cheng, Ph.D., assistant professor of forestry, Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology; Eric Taylor, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension forestry specialist and Texas A&M Forest Service silviculturist; and Anil Somenahally, Ph.D., AgriLife Research soil microbiologist and associate professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, all based at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Overton.. - Leveraging Natural Diversity and Rhizosphere Microbiomes to Identify the Genetic Basis for Reduced Methane Emission in Rice
Joseph Edwards, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology; and Shyamal Talukder, Ph.D., AgriLife Research hybrid rice breeder and assistant professor, Beaumont; Sam Rustom, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomist and assistant professor, Eagle Lake; and William Wheeler, Ph.D., postdoctoral research associate, all in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. - Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Cracking Shrink-Swell Soils
Briana Wyatt, Ph.D., AgriLife Research soil scientist and associate professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences; and Sanjay Antony-Babu, Ph.D., AgriLife Research microbiologist and assistant professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology. - Methane Detection and Quantification over Large Animal Feeding Operations Using GHGSat and High-Resolution Optical Remote Sensing
Zong Liu, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension specialist in manure handling and treatment and associate professor, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering; and Jennifer Spencer, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension and AgriLife Research dairy specialist and associate professor, Stephenville; Juan Piñeiro, DVM, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension dairy specialist and associate professor; and Jacquelyn Prestegaard, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension livestock sustainability specialist and assistant professor, all in the Department of Animal Science; and Xiao Wang, Ph.D., AgriLife Research scientist, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. - Nitrogen-Smart Spinach on Calcareous Soils: Reduction in N2O Risk and Enhancement of Soil Carbon via the Oxalate-Carbonate Pump
Vijay Joshi, Ph.D., AgriLife Research plant systems physiologist and associate professor, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Uvalde. - A System Dynamics Model for Integrated Assessment of Livestock Methane Emissions, Productivity and Soil Carbon Dynamics in Texas Beef Systems
Karun Kaniyamattam, Ph.D., AgriLife Research artificial intelligence modeling scientist and assistant professor, Department of Animal Science. - Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Horse Manure Application with Manure and Bedding-Derived Biochar: A Circular Approach Pilot Study
Peiyang Li, Ph.D., AgriLife Research livestock air quality and agricultural engineer and assistant professor, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Canyon; Carolina Brandani, Ph.D., AgriLife Research associate research scientist and assistant professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Canyon; Xingguo Wang, Ph.D., AgriLife Research assistant professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Fort Worth; and Liu. - Developing a Fecal NIRS and Nutritional Modeling Framework to Estimate Enteric Methane Emissions in Grazing Beef Systems
Jeff Goodwin, Ph.D., director of the Texas A&M Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management and AgriLife Research assistant professor; Barbara Rodrigues, Ph.D., AgriLife Research scientist and lab manager, and Jenna Likins, research program manager, all in the Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management and the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management; Prestegaard and Matt Beck, Ph.D., assistant professor of beef cattle nutrition, Department of Animal Science.
The next call for Seed Grant proposals will be announced in 2028.
