About

Janice E. Thies is a Professor of Soil Biology in the School of Integrative Plant Science, Soil and Crop Sciences Section at Cornell University. Her research program in soil ecology focuses on developing, testing, and implementing methods to assess soil biological quality, remediate degraded soils, and improve soil management practices to ensure the long-term sustainability of agricultural ecosystems. She has served as an expert consultant to organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the National Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Iran, the USDA Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program, and has served twice on Scientific Advisory Panels for the US-EPA. Thies is an associate editor of the Soil Science Society of America Journal and has been involved in various editorial and faculty governance roles. Her academic background includes a doctorate from the University of Hawaii, a master's degree from the same institution, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington. She has been recognized as a Fellow by the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science Society of America, and was named an International Professor of Soil Ecology at Cornell University. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes student responsibility, engagement, integration of current research, and continuous educator development, with courses in applied plant-microbe interactions and master's thesis research.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Ecology
• Biology
• Soil science
• Geology
• Environmental chemistry
• Geography
• Botany
• Pharmacology
• Earth science
• Environmental science
• Forestry
• Organic chemistry
• Materials science

Selected publications

• Characterizing the Atmospheric Mn Cycle and Its Impact on Terrestrial Biogeochemistry

  Global Biogeochemical Cycles · 2024-03-27 · 11 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The role of manganese (Mn) in ecosystem carbon (C) biogeochemical cycling is gaining increasing attention. While soil Mn is mainly derived from bedrock, atmospheric deposition could be a major source of Mn to surface soils, with implications for soil C cycling. However, quantification of the atmospheric Mn cycle, which comprises emissions from natural (desert dust, sea salts, volcanoes, primary biogenic particles, and wildfires) and anthropogenic sources (e.g., industrialization and land‐use change due to agriculture), transport, and deposition, remains uncertain. Here, we use compiled emission data sets for each identified source to model and quantify the atmospheric Mn cycle by combining an atmospheric model and in situ atmospheric concentration measurements. We estimated global emissions of atmospheric Mn in aerosols (<10 μm in aerodynamic diameter) to be 1,400 Gg Mn year −1 . Approximately 31% of the emissions come from anthropogenic sources. Deposition of the anthropogenic Mn shortened Mn “pseudo” turnover times in 1‐m‐thick surface soils (ranging from 1,000 to over 10,000,000 years) by 1–2 orders of magnitude in industrialized regions. Such anthropogenic Mn inputs boosted the Mn‐to‐N ratio of the atmospheric deposition in non‐desert dominated regions (between 5 × 10 −5 and 0.02) across industrialized areas, but that was still lower than soil Mn‐to‐N ratio by 1–3 orders of magnitude. Correlation analysis revealed a negative relationship between Mn deposition and topsoil C density across temperate and (sub)tropical forests, consisting with atmospheric Mn deposition enhancing carbon respiration as seen in in situ biogeochemical studies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Biochar effects on the abundance, activity, and diversity of the soil biota

  2024-04-12 · 29 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Biochar can have effects on soil biota that are distinct from the effects of other organic matter in soils. This chapter discusses the principles by which biochars affect the community composition, activity, and functioning of soil microorganisms and fauna. Surface properties of biochar, its mineral and organic functional groups, pore structure, specific organic compounds, and metabolizable substrates may all have direct and indirect effects on soil biota, which are described in detail.

  PublisherDOI

• Revisioning the Functioning and Management of Soil Systems

  2023-10-27

  book-chapter

  The organic portion of soils includes both soil organisms and the various biological substances and processes that animate soil systems. The connection between the mineral and organic components of soil systems is intimate, converging at the smallest scale of soil structure and function in biofilms and in organo-mineral complexes. Replacing tillage with practices that keep the soil covered and nurture more biotic activity in the upper horizons is one of many biologically based approaches for better management of soil systems. What goes on in soil systems is still incompletely understood because much of our present scientific knowledge has been based on studies that underrepresented or ignored the biological component. Plant roots continually adjust their interactions with the soil environment, particularly with the thin layer of biologically rich soil known as the rhizosphere that envelops the root system and is modified by root exudation.

  PublisherDOI

• Does subjecting plants to water stress enhance biological nitrification inhibition potential of rice?

  Plant and Soil · 2023-05-11 · 4 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Measuring and Monitoring Soil Health

  2023-10-27

  book-chapterSenior author

  Effective management of soil resources requires operational, standardized ways to measure and monitor the quality of these resources. Health commonly refers to well-being, but the more technical definition that is generally accepted among crop and soil scientists is “the capacity of the soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans”. A less-appreciated aspect of soil health degradation derives from the trend of specialization among farming systems. Soil system services are supported by soil functions, e.g., the ability of the soil to facilitate the development of plants and biota and to store as well as release water, nutrients, and carbon. Biological, physical, and chemical processes in the soil are assessed primarily through soil health indicators. Soil health indicators assess a range of soil characteristics and how they may have changed over time. A soil system's health can be assessed in the field through general appearance or semiquantitative measurements.

  PublisherDOI

• The Soil Habitat and Soil Ecology

  2023-10-27 · 26 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter reviews the essential functions of the soil biota, i.e., the life in the soil, and its multiple roles in maintaining soil fertility. It considers the soil as a habitat for organisms, identifying what the important sources of energy and nutrients are for the soil biota and describing the flow of energy and the cycling of materials from above- to belowground. Linkages between above- and belowground processes are highlighted to illustrate their interconnectedness and to show how soil is not an inert medium. Instead, the soil is host to a wide variety and sizes of organisms that collectively perform numerous essential ecosystem services. Soil systems are among the most complex and variable habitats on earth. Any organism that makes its home in soil must devise multiple mechanisms to cope with its high variability in moisture and temperature and its continuous chemical changes so as to survive, function, and reproduce.

  PublisherDOI

• Composts as Soil Amendments That Promote Soil Health

  2023-10-27

  book-chapter

  This chapter offers an overview of current understanding on how traditional compost, vermicompost, compost teas, and mortality composting of animal biomass are used to promote soil health and improve plant growth and health while reducing environmental pollution. Composting is an active method wherein nutrients that are bound in the feedstock being processed are mineralized and released. Solid heterogeneous materials from vegetative, animal, or mineral sources are first placed in piles or in suitable lines of material. Traditional compost is the stabilized product of processes that decompose plant and animal residues at high temperatures through the activity of micro- and macroorganisms that constitute a “biodegrading consortium” operating throughout the composting process. Vermicomposting produces highly stable decomposed organic matter as the combined output of earthworm fecal matter and aerobic microorganisms. Earthworm fecal pellets, referred to as casts, are different from traditional compost in that they are covered with a mucus layer generated by the worms' intestinal tract.

  PublisherDOI

• Metabolic profile and molecular characterization of endophytic bacteria isolated from Pinus sylvestris L. with growth-promoting effect on sunflower

  Environmental Science and Pollution Research · 2023-01-06 · 17 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Practices for More Regenerative Soil Systems

  2023-10-27

  book-chapter

  There are many changes to be made in contemporary agricultural practices to make them more aligned with regenerative farming. For decades, plant breeders have sought to maximize this index, which is formally defined as the percentage of crop biomass that goes into the edible portion of the crop plant. Plant breeders have sought to create genotypes whose phenotype would apportion as large a share as possible of the carbohydrates that a plant photosynthesized into its panicles or seed heads for grain formation and filling, aiming to maximize the Harvest Index. Root systems that grow deeply can reach both nutrients and water in the soil's lower horizons at the same time they support the soil biota through exudation, making the soil more hospitable for these organisms as well as more penetrable for other plants' roots. The soil system is an active participant in and beneficiary of plant growth.

  PublisherDOI

• Refocused Thinking for More Regenerative Soil Systems

  2023-10-27

  book-chapter

  This chapter reviews a number of subjects about which scientific and popular thinking needs some reorientation for agriculture to move in more regenerative directions. It discusses major areas for improving the management of soil systems. Regenerative agriculture must attempt, among other things, to countervail the changes occurring in our climate, recognizing that sustained extremes in temperature and precipitation will make agriculture infeasible. Learning that microbes could enhance the productivity of cropping beyond just providing crops with more nitrogen, by also protecting them and accelerating growth, should have prompted some revision of agronomic thinking. Soil is inherently three-dimensional, best considered in terms of volume. Soil systems can provide a major benefit to society by storing, filtering, and purifying water flows. Water and air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are major externalities that emanate from agriculture, imposing costs upon others in society.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• S. Kaan Kurtural

  98 shared

• Allison Jack

  Indigo Information Services (United States)

  52 shared

• Anusuya Rangarajan

  Cornell University

  50 shared

• Elsa Sanchez

  49 shared

• Patrick E. Guinan

  University of Missouri

  49 shared

• Kurt Nolte

  49 shared

• Hannah M. Mathers

  UC San Diego Health System

  49 shared

• Gerard Krewer

  49 shared

Education

• PhD, Microbiology

  University of Hawaii at Manoa

  1990

• MSc, Microbiology

  University of Hawaii at Manoa

  1986

• BSc, Botany

  University of Washington

  1976

Awards & honors

• American Society for Microbiology Latin America Internationa…
• Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy (2016)
• Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America (2016)
• International Professor of Soil Ecology at Cornell Universit…