April Ulery

Biography

The overall theme of my research program is soil quality and how to get the most out of this precious resource – both in terms of agricultural productivity and environmental issues. Whether the function of the soil is crop production or recycling of wastes, I am interested in quantifying soil properties including salinity, nutrient status, contaminant concentrations, and other physical and chemical characteristics that will help define soil quality as well as plant-soil interactions. Specific focus has been given to bioenergy crop yields when grown under saline conditions, potentially an increasing problem in New Mexico soils as our water resources face competition with urban development.