UMN Department of Soil, Water, and Climate

08/20/2026

Can soil monitoring in public gardens help defend against invasive plants and pests? SWAC professor Kyungsoo Yoo and his colleagues from the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and the UMN - Department of Forest Resources say yes!

“Public gardens are already nature's smoke detectors, sounding the alarm on threats—from invasive pests to shifting climates—before those threats take hold in the wider landscape,” Yoo explains. “It’s natural that there should be a consideration for soils.”

Get the full story at swac.umn.edu/news/soil-plant-continuum

07/14/2026

SWAC associate professor and Extension specialist Melissa Wilson and her collaborators have created a first-of-its-kind resource for farmers: ManureDB, a database of manure analysis data from across the US designed to help farmers dial in their manure management and planning. Read the full story on the University of Minnesota Extension website at the link below.

What if better manure data could help farmers save money and improve environmental stewardship?

Extension Soil Scientist Melissa Wilson is leading nationally recognized research to help farmers better understand the nutrient value of manure. “I cannot say that growing up, I thought I would be a manure specialist,” Wilson says. “But I’m known as the Manure Prof at the University of Minnesota, and I have the number 1 research program in number 2.”

Her team's online database ManureDB includes more than 490,000 samples from across the U.S., giving producers better tools to make informed management decisions. Read the full story: z.umn.edu/befl

06/11/2026

Congratulations to LAAS PhD student Renzo Negrini on receiving the Hueg-Harrison Fellowship for the 2026-27 school year! The fellowship was established in recognition of students who exemplify the student-mentor relationship.

"In my first months at the Precision Agriculture Center, Dr. Miao handed me real responsibility," Renzo says of mentor and advisor Dr. Yuxin Miao, "On-farm trials, farmer relationships, the inner workings of federal and state projects- and trusted me to figure it out. He never told me what to do; he asked questions that made me think harder about what I was doing and why. That approach produced things I never imagined for myself, and none of it would have happened without a mentor who believed in my potential before I fully believed in it myself."

Learn more about Renzo's mentorship experience and his advice for fellow students at

LAAS PhD student Renzo Negrini was named a Hueg-Harrison Fellow for the coming 2026-27 school year. The Hueg-Harrison Fellowship was established in 2002 by Bill and Hella Mears Hueg to honor the strong relationship Mr. Hueg had with his mentor Carter M. Harrison. Today, the fellowship recognizes stu...

05/20/2026

Hands-on learning experiences are essential to the CFANS undergraduate experience. Each May, students have the opportunity to participate in Field Study of Soils, a two week immersive course during which they travel the state, learning about Minnesota's diverse soils and developing soil science skills.

In 2025, University of Minnesota students were joined by students from two tribal colleges: Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, and Leech Lake Tribal College. This year's course, currently underway, also includes students from Red Lake Nation College.

Read the full story of this unique and ongoing collaboration and its impact on students at z.umn.edu/SOIL4511story

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Photo 1: Professor Nic Jelinski and students gather to discuss their findings after sampling soil along a hillside (photo by Nora Poole)

Photo 2: Getting our hands dirty in a soil pit (photo by Andrea Elvir Flores)

Photo 3: US Forest Service soil scientist Dave Morley explains the soil characteristics of land recently burned by a wildfire (photo by Nora Poole)

Photo 4: Digging soil samples in a peatland (photo by Tara Wilder)

Photo 5: Sunset over the campsite (photo by Caden Gagnon)

04/08/2026

Land & Atmospheric Science student Jake Kundert presented his PhD defense seminar on Monday, March 23, titled "Crop-Soil Reciprocity: Carbon Cycling, Soil Health, and Farm Economics in Contrasting Midwestern Agroecosystems." Jake was advised by Drs. Jess Gutknecht, Josh Gamble, and Jake Jungers. Having successfully defended, Jake is off to Burlington, Vermont for a postdoc position with the USDA-ARS Food Systems Research Unit. Congratulations, Jake!

03/26/2026

Thank you CFANS for sharing this lovely story about SWAC aluma and researcher Nancy Bohl Bormann in honor of the United Nations International Year of the Woman Farmer!

02/12/2026

The Department of Soil, Water, & Climate is excited to announce our search for two new faculty members: an Assistant Professor in Climate Science and an Assistant Professor in Soil Physics, Ecohydrology, or Hydropedology. Applications are open now at the links below. Initial review of applicants for both positions is scheduled for March 13, 2026. Please share widely with your networks.

Assistant Professor in Climate Science
Application URL: https://lnkd.in/gDJQ7V7m
Initial Review Date: Friday, March 13
Questions about the position, please contact Tim Griffis ([email protected])

Assistant Professor in Soil Physics, Ecohydrology, or Hydropedology
Application URL: https://lnkd.in/gkzEU4zb
Initial Review Date: Friday, March 13
Questions about the position, please contact David Mulla ([email protected])

02/11/2026

Check out the amazing art installation a team of U of M collaborators (including many from SWAC) made for the Art Shanty Projects last month!

Looking for something to do this weekend? Check out the Art Shanty Projects on BDé UMáŋ / Lake Harriet in Minneapolis! The project "Temporarily not soil" was constructed by a team of artists from University of Minnesota Extension, UMN Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, Water Resources Center, CFANS, and more. This underground adventure takes you into the hidden world beneath your feet. Explore lively networks of roots, microbes, and invertebrates, and soil – vibrant, wild, and full of life. https://artshantyprojects.org/portfolio/temporarily-not-soil/

12/09/2025

Catch SWAC faculty member Peter Neff tomorrow on a special "Ask Me Anything (AMA)" event hosted by PBS Newshour. “Tipping Point – Turning Science Into Solutions,” will bring together scientists, academics, digital creators, influencers and others to be interviewed about the challenges they face while communicating facts about science, climate, health and technology.

Tune in live starting at 10 AM CST tomorrow, Wednesday, December 10. You can watch the live broadcast at https://youtu.be/UPKxk3s-8Yc

To participate in the AMA, head over to Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1php5zh/were_pbs_news_and_were_trying_a_bold_experiment/

Leave your questions here in the chat, (live during the event) or in the Reddit AMA here:https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1php5zh/were_pbs_news_and_wer...

12/05/2025

Happy World Soil Day! Established by the United Nations in 2002, World Soil Day raises the awareness of the importance of soil health across the globe.

Here in the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, our faculty, students, and research staff are digging deep into all the ways soil shapes our world.