2026-28 Funded Seed Grants

On July 1, 2026, the Texas A&M AgriLife Research – Hood Family Center for Greenhouse Gas Management in Agriculture and Forestry awarded approximately $120,000 annually to fund eight two-year projects (2026-28) led by principal investigators who are faculty members with at least a 25% AgriLife Research appointment. The funding was awarded through a competitive 2026 Seed Grants program. The funded projects representing a commitment to measure, monitor, report, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture and forestry are:

• Greenhouse Gas Dynamics and Carbon Storage in Restoring Bottomland Forests
  Principal Investigator: Dr. Zhongqian Cheng
  Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Eric Taylor and Dr. Anil Somenahally
  
• Leveraging Natural Diversity and Rhizosphere Microbiomes to Identify the Genetic Basis for Reduced Methane Emission in Rice
  Principal Investigator: Dr. Joseph Edwards
  Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Shyamal Talukder, Dr. Samer Rustom, and Dr. William Wheeler
  
• Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Cracking Shrink-Swell Soils
  Principal Investigator: Dr. Briana Wyatt
  Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Sanjay Antony-Babu
  
• Methane Detection and Quantification over Large Animal Feeding Operations Using GHGSat and High-Resolution Optical Remote Sensing
  Principal Investigator: Dr. Zong Liu
  Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Jennifer Spencer, Dr. Juan Pineiro, Dr. Jacquelyn Prestegaard, and Dr. Xiao Wang
  
• Nitrogen-Smart Spinach on Calcareous Soils: Reduction in N₂O Risk and Enhancement of Soil Carbon via the Oxalate-Carbonate Pump
  Principal Investigator: Dr. Vijay Joshi
  
• A System Dynamics Model for Integrated Assessment of Livestock Methane Emissions, Productivity and Soil Carbon Dynamics in Texas Beef Systems
  Principal Investigator: Dr. Karun Kaniyamattam
  
• Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Horse Manure Application with Manure and Bedding-Derived Biochar: A Circular Approach Pilot Study
  Principal Investigator: Dr. Peiyang Li
  Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Carolina Brandani, Dr. Xingguo Wang, and Dr. Zong Liu
  
• Developing a Fecal NIRS And Nutritional Modeling Framework to Estimate Enteric Methane Emissions in Grazing Beef Systems
  Principal Investigator: Dr. Jeff Goodwin
  Co-Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Barbara Rodrigues, Dr. Jenna Likins, Dr. Jacquelyn Prestegaard, and Dr. Matthew Beck

The next call for Seed Grant proposals will be announced in 2028.