Jonah N. Gray

Current Projects:

Climate-smart Agriculture that is profitable, Regenerative, Actionable, and Trustworthy (CARAT)

By connecting dairy producers, industry organizations, government agencies, and scientists, the CARAT project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Pennsylvania dairy production while adding economic value for producers along the supply chain.  The Pennsylvania dairy production system is a complicated network of producers at many levels across the state.  While there are many externalities associated with the dairy cattle themselves, there are also externalities associated with the agricultural system responsible for growing the cattle feed.  In the Kaye Biogeochemistry Lab and Couradeau Lab, we take an ecosystems approach to study potential management solutions for nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils.  Besides studying the effects of management practices on N2O emissions, we will also have a more specific focus on the management effects on the microbial community.  With this additional information, we will discover mechanisms that mediate N2O emissions from agricultural soils.

Biography

Jonah Gray is originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and he graduated with honors from Iowa State University with degrees in agronomy and environmental science and a minor in sustainability in May 2023. While studying at ISU, Jonah worked in a soil lab focusing on nitrogen cycling where he had the opportunity to conduct an undergraduate research project on the temperature sensitivity of denitrification in agricultural soils. 

Jonah has decided to continue his education at Penn State by pursuing a Ph.D. under the mentorship of Jason Kaye and Estelle Couradeau.  In the future, he plans to remain in academia.