Current Projects

Last updated on Dec 19, 2025
Understanding biophysical drivers of the CH4 source sink transition in Northern Forests

Total Funding: $1,655,957 (Emory: $329,238) Meet our multi-institute collaborative team members: Woodwell Climate Research Center, lead institute: Jennifer Watts (PI), Kathleen Savage (Co-PI) NC State University: Debjani Sihi (PI) San Diego State University: Xiaofeng Xu (PI) Arizona State University: Hinsby Cadillo-Quiroz (PI) University of Maine: Shawn Fraver (PI) USDA Forest Service: David Hollinger (Collaborator)

Last updated on Mar 3, 2024
Measuring & modeling agricultural carbon sequestration through a microbial lens
Measuring & modeling agricultural carbon sequestration through a microbial lens

Funding source: Valent Biosciences/Valent U.S.A. (Carbon sequestration in agricultural soils, https://www.halo.science/research/agriculture/carbon-sequestration)

Last updated on Aug 8, 2022
Upscaling soil organic carbon measurements at the continental scale by understanding emergent ecosystem properties and spatial representativeness analysis
Upscaling soil organic carbon measurements at the continental scale by understanding emergent ecosystem properties and spatial representativeness analysis

Funding source: National Science Foundation, Macrosystem Biology and NEON-Enabled Science (Award #: DEB-2106137)

Last updated on Jul 6, 2025
A Tale of Two Extremes: Temperature Sensitivity of Carbon Loss from Cool and Hot Soils
A Tale of Two Extremes: Temperature Sensitivity of Carbon Loss from Cool and Hot Soils

Lead PI: Debjani Sihi, Emory University Co-PIs and Collaborators: Jianqiu Zheng – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Tana E. Wood – USDA Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry Michael Weintraub – University of Toledo

Last updated on Jul 8, 2025
From Rhizosphere to Forest: Scaling Shifts in Plant-Microbe Interactions in Infected Eastern Hemlocks to Predict Changes in Ecosystem Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling

Lead PI: Ashley Keiser, University of Massachusetts Amherst Co-PIs and Collaborator: Kristen DeAngelis, University of Massachusetts Amherst Debjani Sihi, NC State University Benjamin Sulman, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Brief description of the project: This DOE-funded (Environmental System Science Program) project investigates how non-native pest infestation (hemlock woolly adelgid, HWA) alters belowground rhizosphere dynamics in eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) forests, with consequences for ecosystem carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling.