Dr. Mike Castellano, agronomy, has been appointed by USDA and the Department of State to be the U.S. representative to the Global Soil Partnership. The GSP is a globally recognized mechanism established in 2012 to position soils in the global agenda through collective action. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations held its 10th plenary assembly of the Global Soil Partnership in May.
Dr. Castellano is the William T. Frankenberger Professor of Soil Science at Iowa State University. His research, teaching, and outreach aim to increase cropping systems productivity, profitability, and environmental performance by improving our understanding and management of soil resources. To achieve these outcomes, Mike uses a systems approach and strong collaborations with a broad array of scientists and engineers to track the storage and flow of nutrients, energy, and water throughout the crop-soil system. A range of stakeholders including government, non-governmental organizations, farmers, and industry regularly engage Mike to help advance sustainable crop production and soil management. His research has led to several public-private partnerships that benefit agriculture and the environment by implementing research results on managed lands. Mike earned a PhD in Soil Science from The Pennsylvania State University. His graduate students have successful careers working throughout the world in academia, government, and industry for the benefit of soil health. He is an active member of the Soil Science Society of America where he received the Early Career Award in 2016 and serves as the editor for the Soil Science Society of America Journal sections of Soil Biology & Biochemistry and Forest, Range & Wildland Soils.
