Research interests

My current research is focusing on the changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and mechanisms of carbon stabilization in soils with conversion of secondary forest to grassland in Leyte, Philippines. This research is build on the hypothesis that conversion of secondary forest to grassland will result in substantial loss of SOC, and that clay mineralogy, and aluminum and iron oxides strongly influence SOC stabilization. The results of this study will be an important contribution to our understanding of the mechanisms of SOC stabilization and sequestration in the soils of the humid tropics and to predict the capacity of these soils to store carbon. This research is funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through a post-doctoral research fellowship and hosted by the Soil Science of Tropical and Subtropical Ecosystems.