Research Interests
Whendee Silver’s research seeks to determine the biogeochemical effects of climate change and human impacts on the environment, and the potential for mitigating these effects. Her lab focuses on redox-sensitive biogeochemistry, greenhouse gas dynamics, and the development and use of new technologies for continuous measurement. The Silver Lab is currently working on the climate change mitigation potential of working lands, the effects of drought and extreme climate events in tropical forests and temperate grasslands, and the greenhouse gas dynamics of drained agricultural peatlands, as well as natural and restored peatlands and wetlands. Silver is the lead scientist of the Marin Carbon Project, which is determining the potential for land-based climate change mitigation. Current projects include converting high-emission organic waste streams to lower-emitting soil amendments for carbon sequestration, the use of enhanced weathering of rock dust to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide, and the effects of combined organic and inorganic amendments on soils and ecosystems.
