Funded project details, investigators, and partners.

Projects in the lab are mostly funded by USDA, DoE, NSF, DARPA, EPA and other agencies. Below is a list of selected projects since 2010:

Date

Project title

Sponsor

Role

07/2023-06/2028

Agriculture that is profitable, Regenerative, Actionable, and Trustworthy (CARAT)

USDA-NRCS Partnerships for Climate Commodities

PI

07/2023-06/2024

ASCENT: Risk-informed alternative Jet fuel supply chain analysis

Federal Aviation Agency

Lead: MIT and WSU

Co-PI

04/2023-06/2024

Ancient cacao, renewed rainforests

Penn State Huck Institute of Life Science

Co-PI

09/2022-08/2026

Shimadzu GC-2030 Greenhouse Gas Chromatograph (GC) for a multi-user soils research lab

USDA-NIFA Equipment Grant Program

Co-PI

09/2020-08/2024

 

C-Change: Consortium for cultivating human and naturally reGenerative enterprises

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Lead: Iowa State Univ.

Co-PI

05/2020-03/2024

Food resilience in the face of catastrophic global events

Open Philanthropy Project

Co-PI

09/201908/2022

Smart tillage to reduce N2O emission from organic agriculture

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

PI

12/2017-11/2021

MINT: Model INTegration through knowledge-rich data and process composition

DARPA

Lead: University of Southern California

Co-PI

02/2018-06/2021

Carbon gaps, nitrogen bulges, and phosphorus imbalances: In search of sustainable soil organic matter management

NESARE

Co-PI

04/2018-03/2022

Development of UAS imaging to complement genomics-assisted breeding of shrub willow for improved yield and pest resistance

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Lead: Cornell University

Co-PI

04/2016-04/2021

Polycultures: Using biodiversity to increase crop productivity and resiliency while reducing the agrochemical footprint of agricultural systems

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Co-PI

04/2016-03/2021

Enabling sustainable landscape design for continual improvement of operating bioenergy supply systems

Department of Energy

Lead: Antares Group Incorporated

Co-PI

02/2014-03/2020

Strengthening farm operator capacity for strategic management of cropping system adaptation to climate change

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Co-PI

01/2016-12/2019

CNH-L: Linking land use decision-making, water quality, and lake associations to understand human-natural feedbacks in lake catchments

National Science Foundation

Lead: Virginia Tech

Co-PI

09/2015-08/2019

Unraveling the interactive effects of tillage, residue, and manure additions on nitrous oxide Emissions in grain and silage systems

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

PI

09/2012-08/2019

Northeast Woody/Warm-season Biomass Consortium

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Co-PI

09/2014-08/2019

A Reduced - Tillage Toolbox: Alternative approaches for integrating cover crops and reduced tillage in an organic feed and forage system

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Co-PI

04/2017-03/2019

Optimizing nutrient uptake in shrub willow and switchgrass to provide multiple ecosystem services

USDA-SunGrant

PI

09/2013-08/2018

Center for Multi-Scale Nutrient Pollution Solutions

Environmental Protection Agency

Co-PI

07/2016-07/2018

Targeting sustainable soil management practices using crop-modeling in soy systems

NESARE

PI

01/2014-07/2018

Biologically based fertilizer recommendations to meet yield expectations and preserve water quality

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Lead: USDA-ARS

Co-PI

08/2014-07/2018

IRES USA-Italy: Investigating Mediterranean silvo-arable-pastoral ecosystems by combining measurements with statistical and mechanistic models

National Science Foundation

PI

01/2016-08/2016

Meta analysis and modeling of dynamic soil properties

USDA Agricultural Research Service

PI

01/2014-01/2015

Sustainable intensification of grazing land to produce food and bioenergy

Institutes of Energy and the Environment Seed Grant

Co-PI

07/2014-06/2015

2014 PA Climate Change impacts update

Department of Environmental Protection

Co-PI

07/2011-12/2014

Mechanistic modeling of multispecies pasture growth and management

USDA Agricultural Research Service

PI

09/2011-08/2014

Genetic improvement for yield and establishment of short rotation woody biomass crops on marginal lands

USDA-SunGrant

Lead: Cornell University

Co-PI

Smart tillage to reduce N2O emission from organic agriculture

USDA-NIFA ORG 2019 - 2022. Award# 2019-51106-30189. PI: Armen R. Kemanian Co-PIs: Felipe Montes, Jason P. Kaye and Ron Hoover. Funded by the USDA NIFA, this project seeks to use smart tillage to reduce N2O emissions from organic systems relying on incorporating manure and cover crops.

Development of UAS imaging to complement genomics-assisted breeding of shrub willow for improved yield and pest resistance

USDA-NIFA 2018 - 2021. PI (Penn State) Armen R. Kemanian, co-PI Sarah Wurzbacher. Award to Cornell (PI Larry Smart) Using UAV based imaging, this project seeks to quickly phenotype willow cultivars and monitor pests, weeds and other agronomic variables of interest to advance shrub willow cultivation.

Polycultures: Using biodiversity to increase crop productivity and resiliency while reducing the agrochemical footprint of agricultural systems

USDA-NIFA Foundational Program 2016 - 2021. Award# 2016-67019-25209. PI John Tooker, Co-PIs: Armen R. Kemanian and Gregory Roth Polycultures and managed biodiversity can improve corn silage and wheat productivity, resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses, and the environment.

Enabling sustainable landscape design for continual improvement of operating bioenergy supply systems

DoE Bioenergy Technologies Office / 2015-2021. PI (Penn State) Tom Richard, Co-PI: Armen R. Kemanian. DoE Award to Antares Group Incorporated (PI Kevin Comer). Smart landscape placement of perennial biomass and bioenergy crops and reduces fertilizer inputs where not needed can improve the economic and environmental metrics of production systems.

CNH-L NSF: Feedbacks among land-use decision making, lake associations and water quality in lake catchments

NSF Coupled Natural and Human Systems / 2016-2018.

US-Italy IRES-NSF: International Research Experience for Students

NSF / 2014-17. Project Directors: Armen Kemanian and Laura Leites

Reduced-Tillage Organic System Experiments (ROSE)

USDA, 2014 - 2019. This project focuses on the science and management of organic systems.

Center for Integrated Multi-Scale Nutrient Pollution Solutions (CNS)

USEPA / 2013-16. This project focuses on the physical science, institutional action and community involvement needed to conserve and restore ecosystem services in agriculturally intense watersheds.

Strengthening farm operator capacity for strategic management of cropping system adaptation to climate change

USDA / 2013-2020. This project uses the power of simulation modeling to provide farm operators information useful for adaptive management.

Northeast Woody/Warm Season Biomass Consortium (NEWBio)

USDA / 2012-17. Project Director: Tom Richard, Director of the Penn State Institutes of Energy and Environment.

Production and Life-Cycle Assessment of Switchgrass Across the Heterogeneous Landscape of the Northeast

USDOT / 2011-14. Project Director: Armen Kemanian.

Genetic Improvement for Yield and Establishment of Short Rotation Woody Biomass Crops on Marginal Lands

USDOT / 2011-14. PI: Larry Smart, Department of Horticulture, Cornell University.

Mechanistic Modeling of Multispecies Pasture Growth and Management

USDA / 2012-14. Project Director: Armen Kemanian. This project seeks to improve our understanding of the competition for resources in plant communities with mixed species.

Biologically Based Fertilizer Recommendations to Meet Yield Expectations and Preserve Water Quality

USDA / 2013-17. This project seeks to improve nutrient management in corn in the mid-Atlantic region.