NZBRC update

Prof. Marta Camps-Arbestain has provided the following summary on current biochar related work taking place at NZBRC, Massey. Please contact Marta if you are interested in finding out more on any of these activities.

PhD student: Stanislav Garbuz

PhD research topic: Linking soil functional biodiversity and processes to ecosystem services. The research explores the dynamic link between functional diversity of soil biota, organic matter quantity and quality, soil biochemical processes, and provision of ecosystem services in allophanic and non-allophanic soils with and without biochar amendment through a combination of field studies and meso-cosm experiments.

PhD supervisors: Maria Minor, Marta Camps-Arbestain, Alec Mackay

PhD student: Chao Kong

PhD research topic: Formulation of artificial soils (Technosols) intended to optimise cropping under aridic conditions. Technosols will be made of sand, so that the capillary rise of water and salts to the soil surface is impaired, along with biochar and other materials as ingredients aiming at alleviating salinity stress to plants. The PhD student will also investigate the use of halophytes to extract salts from with saline water

PhD supervisors: Marta Camps-Arbestain, Qinhua Shen, Brent Clothier, Felipe Macias

PhD student: Ainul Mahmud (Ainul is about to submit her PhD thesis)

PhD research topic: Monitoring the stability of biochar by measuring the soil C and biochar-C in biochar-amended soils using visible-near infrared spectroscopy.

PhD supervisors: Marta Camps-Arbestain, Mike Hedley

PhD student: Lili Ye (visiting student from Guilin University of Technology in China)

Lili is collaborating in a meta-analysis on biochar and soil management, with special attention on crop nutrition led by Marta Camps-Arbestain.


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