Teamrat Ghezzehei
{{short description|American earth scientist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Teamrat Afewerki Ghezzehei
| alma_mater = University of Asmara
Utah State University
| workplaces = Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
University of California, Merced
| thesis_title = Post-tillage dynamics of soil structural and hydraulic properties induced by capillary forces and external loading
| thesis_url = http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48807972
| thesis_year = 2001
| spouse = Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
| website = [http://soilphysics.ucmerced.edu/ Soil Physics Lab]
}}
Teamrat Afewerki Ghezzehei is a Professor of Environmental Soil Physics at the University of California, Merced. He specialises in soil physics, agroecology and environmental stewardship.
Early life and education
Ghezzehei was born in the Province of Eritrea in Ethiopia.{{Cite web|title=MEET A LEAF: Teamrat A. Ghezzehei|url=http://www.aguecohydrology.org/2/post/2019/12/meet-a-leaf-teamrat-a-ghezzehei.html|access-date=2020-09-17|website=AGU Ecohydrology|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=How a girl who loved learning became a top soil scientist – Sally Ride Science|url=https://sallyridescience.ucsd.edu/new-how-a-girl-who-loved-learning-became-a-top-soil-scientist/|access-date=2020-09-18|language=en-US}} He attended the University of Asmara, where he earned an undergraduate degree in 1995. His senior thesis considered the use of prickly pears as compost to reclaim degraded soil. Ghezzhei was a graduate student at Utah State University, where he studied the micromechanics of soil aggregates.{{Cite thesis|title=Post-tillage dynamics of soil structural and hydraulic properties induced by capillary forces and external loading|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48807972|date=2001|language=en|first=Teamrat Afewerki|last=Ghezzehei|oclc=48807972}} As a graduate student Ghezzehei got interested in nature photography, and he spent his spare time in the National Parks of Wyoming. After earning his doctoral degree, Ghezzehei joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow.{{Cite web|title=Teamrat A. Ghezzehei|url=http://soilphysics.ucmerced.edu/group/ghezzehei.html|access-date=2020-09-17|website=Ghezzehei Lab}}
Research and career
File:Boundary of the Carpenter One Fire.jpg, 2013 photo by Teamrat Ghezzehei]]
Ghezzehei was eventually promoted to Affiliate scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His early training involved the physics of fluid flow, and it wasn't until later in his career that he started applying this understanding to biology. He was appointed to the faculty at the University of California, Merced in 2009, where he established the Soil Physics Laboratory. Ghezzehei has applied his understanding of fluid flow to better conserve agriculture, including the NRI Projects in Five Points, California. He has been supported by the California Department of Water Resources to better understand the water retention, hydraulic conductivity and aggregate stability of the site.{{Cite web|title=UC soil physicists convene at NRI Project field in Five Points!|url=https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=30214|access-date=2020-09-18|website=ANR Blogs|language=en-us}} In particular, Ghezzehei looked to understand the impact of winter cover crops on soil water depletion and carbon capture.{{Cite web|title=UC Davis Hydrology Team Visits NRI Study Field {{!}} Merlo Farming Group|url=http://www.merlofarminggroup.com/uc-davis-hydrology-team-visits-nri-study-field|access-date=2020-09-18|website=www.merlofarminggroup.com}}
Ghezzehei works in California, a region well known for its dangerous wildfires.{{Cite web|title=Low-severity wildfires impact soils more than previously believed: Negative effects of low-severity fire on soil structure and organic matter|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180910160632.htm|access-date=2020-09-18|website=ScienceDaily|language=en}} Whilst it had long been assumed that prescribed burns and low-severity wildfires were not dangerous to the soil below, Ghezzehei showed that they can weaken the soil structures.{{Cite web|last=Romero|first=Ezra David|title=Low-Severity Fires Like Prescribed Burns Might Not Be So Harmless To Soil|url=http://www.capradio.org/123165|access-date=2020-09-18|website=www.capradio.org}} Soil comprises mineral particles bound by organic matter and other components to form aggregates. In severe fires, the organic materials burn, but the same is now true in low-severity fires. Ghezzehei has shown that fire increases the pressure within the aggregates due to the vaporisation of water; weakening the aggregates and overall soil structure. The damage was worse if the soil was more wet. He went on to study the stability of these soil aggregates, performing simulated burn experiments and monitoring the amount of organic carbon released to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. His lab use various analytical techniques, including confocal laser microscopy.{{Cite web|title=The Poetry of Science Sparks International Collaboration {{!}} Newsroom|url=https://news.ucmerced.edu/news/2018/poetry-science-sparks-international-collaboration|access-date=2020-09-18|website=news.ucmerced.edu|language=en}}
In 2019, Ghezzehei was made Chair of the Life & Environmental Sciences Department at the University of California, Merced. He specialises in soil physics and environmental science.{{Cite web|title=Teamrat Ghezzehei {{!}} UC Merced|url=https://www.ucmerced.edu/content/teamrat-ghezzehei-0|access-date=2020-09-17|website=www.ucmerced.edu}} At UC Merced, Ghezzehei worked with Berhe to investigate the production of biochar and how it can be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.{{Cite web|title=Researchers Hope to Tackle Methane Emissions in Manure Through Use of Biochar {{!}} Newsroom|url=https://news.ucmerced.edu/news/2019/researchers-hope-tackle-methane-emissions-manure-through-use-biochar|access-date=2020-09-18|website=news.ucmerced.edu}} Ghezzehei and Berhe designed mobile biochar units, which convert biomass from agriculture and forestry to biochar.
Select publications
- {{Cite journal|last1=Albalasmeh|first1=Ammar A.|last2=Berhe|first2=Asmeret Asefaw|last3=Ghezzehei|first3=Teamrat A.|date=2013|title=A new method for rapid determination of carbohydrate and total carbon concentrations using UV spectrophotometry|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2013.04.072|journal=Carbohydrate Polymers|volume=97|issue=2|pages=253–261|doi=10.1016/j.carbpol.2013.04.072|pmid=23911443|issn=0144-8617}}
- {{Cite journal|last1=Ghezzehei|first1=Teamrat A.|last2=Or|first2=Dani|date=2001|title=Rheological Properties of Wet Soils and Clays under Steady and Oscillatory Stresses|url=https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.2136/sssaj2001.653624x|journal=Soil Science Society of America Journal|language=en|volume=65|issue=3|pages=624–637|doi=10.2136/sssaj2001.653624x|bibcode=2001SSASJ..65..624G|issn=1435-0661}}
- {{Cite journal|last1=Or|first1=Dani|last2=Ghezzehei|first2=Teamrat A|date=2002-02-01|title=Modeling post-tillage soil structural dynamics: a review|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167198701002562|journal=Soil and Tillage Research|series=Soil Fragmentation and Seedbed Characterization|language=en|volume=64|issue=1|pages=41–59|doi=10.1016/S0167-1987(01)00256-2|bibcode=2002STilR..64...41O |issn=0167-1987}}
Personal life
Ghezzehei is married to Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, who he met in Eritrea. He has continued to take photographs of nature.
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:American soil scientists
Category:21st-century American earth scientists
Category:Eritrean emigrants to the United States
Category:University of Asmara alumni