Department of Agronomy

2024 Lecturer | Dr. Rattan Lal

About the Lecturer

Rattan Lal

Rattan Lal, Ph.D., is a Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and Director of the CFAES Rattan Lal Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration at The Ohio State University; an Adjunct Professor of the University of Iceland and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute; and a Visiting Professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile. Dr. Lal is widely recognized globally as a pioneer in soil-centric agricultural management to improve food security globally and develop climate-resilient agriculture through soil carbon sequestration, sustainable intensification, enhancing use and efficiency of agroecosystems, sustainable management of soils, and soil health.

Current research focuses on soil carbon dynamics and global warming, soil structure and its management, soil erosion and the fate of carbon transported by erosional processes, soil wetness and anaerobiosis, and sustainable management of soil and water resources.

Dr. Lal served as President of the World Association of the Soil and Water Conservation, the International Soil Tillage Research Organization, the Soil Science Society of America, and the International Union of Soil Sciences, Vienna, Austria. He has served as a member of various U.S. and international committees, such as the Federal Advisory Committee on National Assessment of Climate Change, Senior Science Advisor to the Global Soil Forum of IASS, and the United Nations Food Systems Summit Science Committee.

Awards

Notable awards include:

  • World Agriculture Prize of the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for the Agricultural and Life Sciences (2018)
  • Glinka World Soil Prize (2018)
  • Japan Prize (2019)
  • U.S. Awasthi IFFCO Prize (2019)
  • Arrell Global Food Innovation Award (2020)
  • World Food Prize (2020)
  • India’s Padma Shri Award (2021)
  • Mahatma Ghandi Award for Environmental Protection (2022).

Education

  • B.Sc. (Agriculture) Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India - 1963
  • M.Sc. (Soils), Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India - 1965
  • Ph.D. (Soils), The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA. - 1968

Recorded Lectures