This spring has been busy for AgriChar group members, now when the long-term biochar field experiments have been sown (17th year!) and first greenhouse gas measurements taken, its time to look back for the highlights:
- We celebrated the successful MSc theses seminars of our group members, Kira Eskelinen, Jenni Kurvonen and Tharangi Disnika. Well done, proud of you!
- We had some fantastic reunion meetings with our friends, Subin Kalu (currently in USA), Mina Kiani (LUKE), and Biar Deng (Assistant Prof in South Sudan), was good to catch up after long time no see!
- New group members Joona Ruuskanen (intern from Metropoli lab school), three new MSc students Sadia Sabrina Tanni, Tabaraka Binte Ali and exchange MSc student Douaa Batrash from University of Padova, Italy started their work in the team. Together with Samuel, they have been busy with sample preparation and analysis of crop nutrient uptake as well as studies on how differently activated biochars affect wheat yield formation.
- Our long-term biochar field experiments have been tilled, sown and fertilized for the 17th growing season- this is very unique globally! Our Jure Zrim together with Joona and visiting intern Fanta Keita from CY Cergy Paris Université have been already sampling several rounds of greenhouse gas samples, great success! This year is special as we are going to install there also automated GHG sampling chambers thanks to collaboration between NITROSCOPE and AGCLIMATE projects.
- Zannatul and Jure have also been busy with studying earthworms from a collaboration project with Dr. Iryna Herzon's group.
- Just this week, the lake sediment greenhouse experiment (part of FERRO project), was harvested dismantled by Franco from our team, as well as the main researcher of FERRO, Dr. Olga Tammeorg and visiting researcher Dr. Agnieszka Budzyńska from Poland. As you see, the work in greenhouse is lots of fun!
- We also prepared the posters our team members will present in next week in 23rd World Congress of Soil Science in Nanjing, China. If you are joining the conference and are interested in how activated biochars affect GHG emissions from soil, earthworms and what happens to biochar particles in soil over longer term, please make sure to have a chat with Samuel Amoah, Zannatul Ferdous and Zhouyang Tian from AgriChar team, University of Helsinki, Finland!
