Welcome to Xia’s Soil Systems Research Group!

The Soil Systems Lab at Columbia University

The Soil Systems Lab at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) aims to leverage process and empirical modeling tools with multi-scale data sources, including field and lab measurements, survey and literature data, and remote sensing images, to monitor soil organic carbon, greenhouse gas emissions, and ecosystem productivity across various spatial scales. Our research team will primarily focus on natural climate solutions by investigating the influence of climate, land use change, and management practices on soil health and the associated ecosystem service outcomes in the terrestrial ecosystem. The overarching goal of our research group is to tackle challenges related to environmental sustainability, climate change, and food security.

  • Natural climate solutions

  • Soil Ecology/ Agroecology

  • Carbon management and carbon sequestration

  • Greenhouse gas emissions

  • Soil biogeochemistry

  • Nitrogen cycling

  • Soil health assessment

  • Rangeland management

  • Conservation practices (e.g., cover cropping, organic farming)

  • Soil fertility and fertilizer inputs

  • Soil moisture/ Hydrological processes

  • Strategic sampling design

Research themes

  • Field sampling

  • Lab measurements

  • Process-based modeling/ Ecosystem modeling

  • Digital soil mapping

  • Applied spectroscopy

  • Remote sensing applications in agricultural and environmental research

  • Machine learning/ Artificial Intelligence

  • High-performance computing

  • Meta-analysis/ Data mining

  • Decision support tools

  • Environmental informatics

Research approach and tools

Interested in the research themes and the approach outlined above?

Consider joining Xia’s Soil Systems Lab at LDEO at Columbia University! Prospective postdocs, graduate students, and visiting students are encouraged to explore the Opportunities tab for further information.