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University of Vermont

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With the presence of big names like Cabot Cheese and Ben and Jerry’s, it’s no secret that Vermont has a strong dairy community. In fact, the agriculture sector of Vermont’s economy has been dominated by dairy for many years. University of Vermont researchers are teaming up with one of the largest farms in the state, Audet’s Blue Spruce Farm, to study ways to improve soil health, reduce nutrient runoff, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions in dairy forage systems. This large, field-scale study will study soil health management systems including cover cropping, no-till and manure application by injection. By measuring water quality, greenhouse gases (GHGs), crop yields and soil health, the team hopes to understand how these soil health management systems interact with the climate and hydrology of the heavy clay soils of the Champlain Basin. These data will inform which practices can help to protect the water quality of Lake Champlain, improve or maintain yields and help reduce carbon emissions in dairy.

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Researcher selfies

"As a graduate student, I feel fortunate to be surrounded by so many smart, passionate people and it is inspiring seeing all the ways to engage with soil health research as a career."
- Molly Ratliff, Graduate Research Assistant

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"I’m very excited because this is a rare opportunity to work on a project that will measure outcomes across so many aspects of the farming system: water quality, soil health, GHGs, and crop productivity."
- Joshua Faulkner, Principal Investigator

Researchers in the field
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The University of Vermont Team

Joshua Faulkner
Joshua Faulkner, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator

Expertise in agriculture and natural resources, leads project implementation and design.

Marie English
Marie English
Soil Health and Climate Change Research Specialist

Focuses on project sampling and conducts project research activities.

Molly Ratliff
Molly Ratliff
Graduate Research Assistant

Focusing on GHG sampling, inorganic nitrogen analysis, and data processing. Skills in GHG measurements, soil sampling, inorganic nitrogen analysis, data processing.

Carol Adair
Carol Adair, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Expertise in global change (including climate change), ecosystem ecology, biogeochemistry, carbon storage and cycling, and non-invasive plant invasions, modeling and statistics.

Eric Roy
Eric Roy, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Works at the interface of ecology and engineering, and focuses on water, food systems and resource management.

Ben Tukto
Ben Tukto, M.S.
Water Quality Research Specialist

Operates scientific field instrumentation, collects field supplies, compiles water quality data.