About

Dr. Whendee Silver is a Professor of Ecosystem Ecology and Biogeochemistry in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at U.C. Berkeley. She earned her PhD in Ecosystem Ecology from Yale University and also holds a Master of Science in Forest Science from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a B.I.S. in Environmental Studies from the School for International Training. Her research focuses on determining the biogeochemical effects of climate change and human impacts on the environment, with an emphasis on the potential for mitigation. Her current research program investigates the impacts of land-use practices such as deforestation, reforestation, and grazing on carbon dynamics and biogeochemical cycling, the retention and loss of carbon and nitrogen under variable redox conditions, and the effects of water and agricultural management on greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Silver leads the Silver Lab, which works on projects including drought and hurricane impacts on tropical forests, climate change mitigation potential of grasslands, and greenhouse gas dynamics of peatlands and wetlands. She is the lead scientist of the Marin Carbon Project, which explores land-based climate change mitigation strategies, particularly through composting high-emission organic waste for soil amendments to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide. Recognized for her contributions, she is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, and the Ecological Society of America, and is a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow. In 2016, she was named a University of California Climate Champion for her outstanding teaching, research, and public service in climate change solutions and engagement.

Research topics

• Ecology
• Biology
• Computer Science
• Environmental science
• Data Mining
• Database
• Environmental resource management
• Chemistry
• Soil science
• Meteorology
• Atmospheric sciences
• Geology
• Environmental chemistry
• Data science
• Geography
• Genetics
• Earth science
• World Wide Web

Selected publications

• N ₂ Onet: a global collaborative network facilitating advances in measurement, modeling, and mitigation of agricultural soil nitrous oxide emissions

  Environmental Research Letters · 2026-02-10 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Nitrogen (N) fertilizer supports global food production, but its use and overuse drive emissions of nitrous oxide (N 2 O), a potent and long-lived greenhouse gas. Understanding the drivers of N 2 O fluxes remains elusive, making it difficult to predict emissions in time and space and to develop and evaluate ways to lower emissions through management. Major scientific uncertainties underlying the understanding of the drivers of N 2 O fluxes identified in a workshop of N 2 O emissions experts include poor process-based understanding of controls on soil N 2 O emissions in the field; insufficient data to reduce uncertainty in N 2 O budgets from the field to regional scales, including N 2 O emission measurements and importantly, field-scale N balances; and high uncertainty in model predictions of soil N 2 O emissions across environmental and management conditions. To reduce these uncertainties, we present the concept of N 2 Onet, a global collaborative initiative to accelerate advances in N 2 O measurement, analyses, and mitigation. N 2 Onet will serve as an observational network of supersites with multi-scale measurements; a database hub for N 2 O flux and ancillary data; and a catalyst for community building, information sharing, and training. By coalescing and coordinating the global community of researchers, N 2 Onet will provide a roadmap for reducing N 2 O emissions from agriculture worldwide.

  PublisherDOI

• Hot spots, hot moments, or hot mess: determining the patterns and drivers of greenhouse gas emissions using continuous automated measurements

  2026-03-14

  articleOpen access1st author

  Continuous automated measurements are essential for quantifying the spatial and temporal variability in soil greenhouse gas fluxes and for resolving “hot spot” and “hot moments” that contribute disproportionately to ecosystem-scale emissions. This is especially important for methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), where short-lived emission pulses can account for a substantial fraction of the annual mean and are readily missed by low-frequency sampling.We found that hot moments accounted for 700% of seasonal means. Similarly, in peatland maize system, hot spots and hot moments accounted for

  PublisherDOI

• Expert elicitation on agricultural enhanced weathering reveals carbon dioxide removal potential and uncertainties in loss pathways

  Communications Earth & Environment · 2026-03-12

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Enhanced weathering in agriculture is a potential gigatonne-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) pathway, but its potential remains difficult to constrain. We used a formal expert elicitation process to estimate CDR potential and efficiency, uncertainties, and key data needs for six feedstocks. Expert opinion of global potential varied by feedstock, with estimates averaging 0.2-0.7 Gt CO2e/yr, but with a wide range (from a source to greater than 5 Gt CO2e/yr removal). When focusing on the American Midwest (pH 5.5-6), carbon dioxide removal efficiency, meaning the fraction of potential ultimately realized, ranged from 27-39%. Key uncertainties included feedstock availability, calcite saturation, and deep soil/freshwater emission pathways. There is a need for empirical data in key stages, with potential to leverage liming data where appropriate. Overall, there appears to be strong potential CDR at broad scales. However, continued research is necessary to build confidence when quantifying that potential and actual removals.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Rethinking soil incubation greenhouse gas monitoring: How the Picarro G2508 coupled with the Sage gas autosampler compares against gas chromatography analysis

  2026-03-13

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  High‑precision greenhouse gas (GHG) measurements are essential for accurately assessing soil carbon and nitrogen cycling. Traditionally, gas chromatography (GC) with autosamplers has been the standard for soil incubation studies due to its accuracy and high‑throughput capability. Recent advances in laser‑based systems, such as Picarro’s G2508 Cavity Ring‑Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) analyzer, now enable continuous, real‑time monitoring of CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, and other gases. When paired with Picarro’s new Sage gas autosampler, the system supports automated, high‑throughput measurements of discrete, small‑volume gas samples using only zero air (or N₂) for flushing and requiring minimal maintenance.To evaluate performance relative to GC, we conducted an intercomparison study using 60 mL samples split into two equal aliquots—one measured with the G2508–Sage system and one with GC. Certified reference gases (9.9 ppm N₂O, 10 ppm CH₄, 1008 ppm CO₂) and their 10–80% dilutions were analyzed. Both systems achieved coefficients of variation (CVs) below 5%, with the G2508–Sage consistently showing lower CVs when sample concentrations were within the analyzer’s dynamic range. Strong linear correlations (R² > 0.99) were observed across all gases.For soil incubation headspace samples containing elevated GHG concentrations, the two systems generally agreed within CVs

  PublisherDOI

• Assessing Compost Carbon Permanence with Solid-State 13C NMR: Advancing Standards for Climate and Carbon Markets

  ChemRxiv · 2025-11-03

  article

  Composted amendments provide an opportunity to sequester organic carbon in soil, contribute to a circular carbon and nutrient economy, reduce landfill waste, and enhance soil health. In some cases, carbon sequestered in soils through compost land applications may be creditable in carbon markets, bringing in revenue to producers as well. One key challenge in the push to incentivize composting through carbon markets is the difficulty in assessing long-term compost carbon permanence accurately, which is critical for pricing compost credits. In this study, we tested a range of commercially available compost samples from Texas and California using standard organic geochemical metrics for organic matter permanence derived from 13C solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The results show variability in compost carbon permanence as assessed by this tool, suggesting that NMR may provide markets with finer resolution information for price setting. One potential uncertainty in NMR assessments of compost carbon permanence is the use of bulking agents in the composting process. Overall, however, 13C solid state NMR offers advantages over traditional California compost maturity tests by enabling standardized maturity indices and more robust quantification of long-term carbon sequestration.

  PublisherDOI

• Integrate soil methane flux data to inform methane uptake models

  2025-10-12

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Land use and mineral type jointly control stability of newly formed mineral-associated organic matter

  Research Square · 2025-03-31

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Map the effects of agricultural practices on soil methane uptake

  2025-10-08

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Land use and mineral type determine stability of newly formed mineral-associated organic matter

  Communications Earth & Environment · 2025-05-27 · 10 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Formation of mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) is a key process in the global carbon cycle, stabilising organic carbon in soils. The relative importance of mineral composition and land use as potential controls of MAOM stability at regional scales and underlying microbial processes are still unresolved. Here, we assessed the stability of MAOM formed on goethite (iron oxide) and illite (phyllosilicate clay) exposed for five years in topsoils at 68 forest and grassland sites across Germany. We incubated the newly formed MAOM, determined its extractability, and analysed the composition and functioning of associated microbial communities. Decomposition of MAOM was always significantly lower for goethite than illite, highlighting that higher organic carbon accumulation on goethite was not exclusively due to its larger sorption capacity. Instead, reduced organic carbon extractability and higher phosphorus-acquiring enzyme activities indicated stronger substrate limitation of microbial growth on goethite than illite. Across the two minerals, MAOM decomposition was consistently lower for forests than grasslands, relating to greater nutrient constraints and a different microbial community composition in forests. Overall, mineral type and land use explained 34.6 and 23.2% of the variance in MAOM decomposition. The pronounced land use effect on MAOM stability underlines its potential responsiveness to environmental change.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Supplementing Enhanced Weathering With Organic Amendments Accelerates the Net Climate Benefit of Soil Amendments in Rangeland Soils

  AGU Advances · 2025-04-01 · 9 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) removal (carbon dioxide removal (CDR)) that combines decreased greenhouse gas emissions with atmospheric CO 2 reduction is needed to limit climate change. Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) of ground silicate minerals is an emerging CDR technology with the potential to decrease atmospheric CO 2 . However, there are few multi‐year field studies and considerable uncertainty in field‐rates of ERW. We explored combining finely ground metabasaltic rock with other soil CDR technologies (compost and biochar amendments) to stimulate carbon (C) sequestration. The combined ground rock (GR), compost, and biochar amendment had the greatest increases in soil C stocks over 3 years (15.3 ± 4.8 Mg C ha −1 ). All other treatments slowed or reversed background C losses, with GR‐only treatments reducing rates of soil C loss relative to the control but still losing soil C over time. Ground rock amendments lowered nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions by 11.0 ± 0.6 kg CO 2 e ha −1 yr −1 and increased methane (CH 4 ) consumption by 9.5 ± 3.5 to 18.4 ± 4.4 kg CO 2 e ha −1 yr −1 ; while noteworthy, emissions reductions were an order of magnitude smaller than organic C sequestration with compost amendments. The combined amendment yielded the greatest estimated net ecosystem benefit (3 year relative changes in soil C, estimated ERW rates, and greenhouse gas emissions) of −86.0 ± 24.7 Mg CO 2 e ha −1 . Benefits were dominated by soil organic C gains, directly from organic amendments and indirectly from increased plant growth. Weathering rates were <10% of the theoretical potential. Combined ERW and organic amendments increased estimated weathering rates and stimulated soil organic C sequestration.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: The Role of Iron Redox Dynamics in Carbon Losses from Tropical Forest Soils

  NSF · $711k · 2015–2021

• Dissertation Research: Iron redox dynamics as a driver of organic matter decomposition in humid tropical forest soils

  NSF · $15k · 2012–2014

• Collaborative Research: Feammox - A new pathway for nitrogen loss from terrestrial ecosystems

  NSF · $742k · 2009–2014

• DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Determining the drivers of annual methane emissions in temperate wetlands

  NSF · $16k · 2014–2016

• "Dissertation Research: "Anaerobic ammonium oxidation:a new pathway for N2 losses from humid tropical forest soils?"

  NSF · $12k · 2008–2010

Frequent coauthors

• Christine S. O’Connell

  Macalester College

  103 shared

• Debjani Sihi

  Emory University

  89 shared

• Melanie A. Mayes

  Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  88 shared

• C. López-Lloreda

  86 shared

• Ryan K. Quinn

  85 shared

• Brent D. Newman

  84 shared

• Jana R. Phillips

  Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  84 shared

• Julia Brenner

  Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  84 shared

Education

• PhD, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

  Yale University

  1992

Awards & honors

• Innovation Prize by the American Carbon Registry (2015)
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sc…
• Fellow of the American Geophysical Union
• Fellow of the Ecological Society of America
• Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow