Alison E. King, Ph.D.

Professional interests:  The core goal of my research program is to support the sustainable management of soils by addressing key unknowns in soil functionality and soil change over time. To address these unknowns, my program investigates soil patterns and processes using characterizations of soil organic matter and other physicochemical properties, stable isotope tracing in solids and gas, quantitative and qualitative literature synthesis, and process-based and statistical modeling.

Teaching: EES 140 Soil Science, EES 141 Soil Science Laboratory

Recent publications:

King, AE, Amsili, JP, Córdova, SC, Culman, S, Fonte, SJ, Kotcon, J, Masters MD, McVay, K, Olk, DC, Prairie, AM, Schipanski, M, Schneider, SK, Stewart, CE, Cotrufo, MF. (2024) Constraints on mineral-associated and particulate organic carbon response to regenerative management: carbon inputs and saturation deficit. Soil and Tillage Research. doi: 10.1016/j.still.2024.106008

Zhang, Y, King, AE, Hamilton, E, Cotrufo, MF. (2024) Representing cropping systems with the MEMS 2 ecosystem model. Agronomy Journal. doi: 10.1002/agj2.21611

Hansen, PM, Even, R, King, AE, Lavallee, J, Schipanski, M, Cotrufo, MF. (2024) Distinct, direct and climate‐mediated environmental controls on global particulate and mineral‐associated organic carbon storage. Global Change Biology. doi: 10.1111/gcb.17080

King, AE, Amsili, JP, Córdova, SC, Culman, S, Fonte, SJ, Kotcon, J, Liebig, M, Masters MD, McVay, K, Olk, DC, Schipanski, M, Schneider, SK, Stewart, CE, Cotrufo, MF. (2023) A soil matrix capacity index to predict mineral-associated but not particulate organic carbon across a range of climate and soil pH. Biogeochemistry Letters. doi: 10.1007/s10533-023-01066-3

Prairie, King, AE, Cotrufo, MF. (2023) Restoring particulate and mineral-associated organic carbon through regenerative agriculture. Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2217481120

King, AE, Rezanezhad, F, Wagner-Riddle, C. (2021) Evidence for Microbial Rather than Aggregate-sourced Origin of Substrates Fueling Freeze-thaw Induced N₂O Emissions. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108352

King, AE, Congreves, KA, Deen, B, Dunfield, KE, Simpson, MJ, Voroney, P, Wagner-Riddle, C. (2020) Crop Rotations Differ in Soil Carbon Stabilization Efficiency, but the Response to Quality of Structural Plant Inputs is Ambiguous. Plant and Soil. doi: 10.1007/s11104-020-04728-5

King, AE, Ali, GA, Gillespie, AW, Wagner-Riddle, C. (2020) Soil Organic Matter as Catalyst of Crop Resource Capture. Frontiers in Environmental Science. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2020.00050