Profile of Johannes Lehmann

Abstract

Soil scientist Johannes Lehmann has spent his career examining how to improve soil quality to secure agricultural production, regulate climate, and keep water clean. His work with dark earths in the Brazilian Amazon led to the discovery of the importance of biochar in soil fertility and nutrient recycling from excreta. For more than 24 years, Lehmann has held a faculty position at Cornell University, where his research initially focused on carbon and nutrient cycles and went on to challenge the existence of soil humus and delve into the role of functional complexity in soil management.