Susan E. Crow
Chair, Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences
Professor, Soil Ecology and Biogeochemistry
Program Areas
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Research
Department Research Areas:
- Soil Health
- Ecosystem and Community Ecology
- Biogeochemistry
Research Focus:
Dr. Crow studies carbon dynamics and sequestration, greenhouse gas flux, soil health, nutrient and water management in natural and managed (forested or agriculture) ecosystems and how these relate to global change pressures – such as land-use, a changing climate, and invasive species – sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy production. Her work advances the tools available for assessing the carbon/climate tradeoffs of agricultural production, renewable fuel, and food systems and integrates across disciplines of economics, engineering, and agroecology to build resilience into our society against uncertainty in the climate system, energy, and water accessibility.
Publications
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Selected Publications
Undergraduate** and graduate* student authors are indicated
2025
Beckstrom, T.B., A. Bunnell, T.M. Maaz, M.B. Kantar, J.L. Deenik, , C. Tallamy Glazer, P. Sadowski, S.E. Crow††. 2025. Mid-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning improve accessibility of Hawaiʻi soil health assessment. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 89, e70081. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.70081
Beckstrom, T.B., T.M. Maaz, J.L. Deenik, H. Peter-Contesse, A. Koch, C. Tallamy Glazer, J. Rivera-Zayas, S.E. Crow††. 2025. From Volcanic ash to abundant earth: understanding Andisol organic matter dynamics in relation to soil health on Hawaiʻi Island. Biogeochemistry 168:22 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-025-01216-9
Bremer, L.L., G. McGuire*, Z. Hastings Silao, N. Kurashima, T. Tickton, S.E. Crow, C.P Giardina, K.B. Winter, N. DeMaagd, and C. Trauernict. 2025. Carbon benefits through agroforestry transitions on unmanaged fallow agrocultural land in Hawai’i. Scientific Reports 15:5097 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-87891-y
2023
Satdichanh, M., G.G.O. Dossa, K. Yan, K.W. Tomlinson, K.E. Barton, S.E. Crow, L. Winowiecki T-G Vågen, J. Xu, R.D. Harrison. 2023. Drivers of soil organic carbon stock during tropical forest succession. Journal of Ecology 111: 1722-1734. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14141
McClellan Maaz, T., R.H. Heck, C.T. Glazer, M.K. Loo, J. Rivera Zayas, A.R. Krenz, T. B. Beckstrom*, S.E. Crow†, J.L. Deenik†. 2023. Measuring the unmeasurable: A structural equation modeling approach to assessing soil health. Science of the Total Environment 870: 161900. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161900
Crow, S.E., H. Hubanks*, J.L. Deenik, T. McClellan Maaz, C. Tallamy Glazer, E. Vizka*, J. Rivera-Zayas. 2023. Dynamic soil health properties reveal legacy of intensive agriculture in (sub)tropical natural and working landscapes. Frontiers in Environmental Science 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.991262
2022
Wells*, J.M., S.E. Crow, C.A. Sierra, J.L. Deenik, K. Carlson, M.N. Meki, J. Kiniry. 2022. Edaphic controls of soil organic carbon in tropical agricultural landscapes. Scientific Reports 12, 21574. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24655-y
Crow, S.E. and C.A. Sierra. 2022. The climate benefit of sequestration in soils for warming mitigation. Biogeochemistry. doi.org/10.1007/s10533-022-00981-1
McGrath*, C., C.E. Hicks Pries, N. Nguyen, B. Glazer, S. Lio, S.E. Crow. 2022. Minerals limit the deep soil respiration response to warming in a tropical Andisol. Biogeochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-022-00965-1
Wells*, J.M., S.E. Crow, S.K. Khanal, S.Q. Turn. 2022. Lignin chemical controls on bioconversion of tropically grown C4 bioenergy grasses to biofuels and biobased products. Bioresource Technology Reports 18: 101015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biteb.2022.101015
2021
Heckman, K.A., Hicks Pries, C.E., Lawrence, C.R., Rasmussen, C., Crow, S.E., Hoyt, A.M., von Fromm*, S.F., Shi, Z., Stoner*, S., McGrath*, C., Beem-Miller*, J., Berhe, A., Blankinship, J.C., Keiluweit, M., Marin-Spiotta, E., Monroe*, G., Plante, A.F., Schimel, J.P., Sierra, C.A., Thompson, A., Wagai, R. 2021. A global synthesis of soil fractions goes beyond bulk to explain heterogeneity in soil carbon storage and persistence. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16023
Wells*, J.M., S.E. Crow, S.K. Khanal, S. Turn, A. Hashimoto, J.R. Kiniry, M.N. Meki. 2021. Anaerobic digestion and hot water pretreatment of tropically grown C4 energy grasses: Mass, carbon, and energy conversions from field biomass to fuels. Agronomy 11, 838. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11050838
Melone*, A., Bremer, L.L., Crow, S.E., Hastings*, Z., Winter, K.B., Ticktin, T., Rii, Y.M., Wong, M., Kukea-Shultz, K., Watson, S.J., Trauernicht, C. 2021. Assessing Baseline Carbon Stocks for Forest Transitions: A Case Study of Agroforestry Restoration from Hawaiʻi. Agriculture, 11, 189. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/3/189
Sierra, C.A., S.E. Crow, M. Heimann, H. Metzler, E.-D. Schulze. 2021. The climate benefit of carbon sequestration. Biogeosciences, 18, 1029-1048. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1029-2021
2020
Crow, S.E., J.M. Wells, C.A. Sierra, A.H. Youkhana, R.M. Ogoshi, D.T. Richardson, C. Tallamy Glazer, M.N. Meki, J.R. Kiniry. 2020. Carbon flow through energycane agroecosystems established post‐intensive agriculture. Global Change Biology Bioenergy 12:806-817. doi:10.1111/gcbb.12713
Schädel, C., Beem-Miller, J., Aziz Rad, M., Crow, S.E., Hicks Pries, C., Ernakovich, J., Hoyt, A.M., Plante, A., Stoner, S., Treat, C.C., and Sierra, C.A. 2020. Decomposability of soil organic matter over time: The Soil Incubation Database (SIDb, version 1.0) and guidance for incubation procedures, Earth Syst. Sci. Data 12: 1511-1524. doi: 10.5194/essd-12-1511-2020
Lawrence, C.R., Beem-Miller, J., Hoyt, A.M., Monroe, G., Sierra, C.A., Stoner, S., Heckman, K., Blankinship, J. C., Crow, S.E., McNicol, G., Trumbore, S., Levine, P.A., Vindušková, O., Todd-Brown, K., Rasmussen, C., Hicks Pries, C.E., Schädel, C., McFarlane, K., Doetterl, S., Hatté, C., He, Y., Treat, C., Harden, J.W., Torn, M.S., Estop-Aragonés, C., Asefaw Berhe, A., Keiluweit, M., Marin-Spiotta, E., Plante, A.F., Thomson, A., Schimel, J.P., Vaughn, L.J.S., and Wagai, R. 2020. An open source database for the synthesis of soil radiocarbon data: ISRaD version 1.0, Earth Syst. Sci. Data 12:61-76. doi:10.5194/essd-12-61-2020
- Research Scholar Profiles
Contact Information
Mailing Address:
Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences
2181 McCarty Hall A, PO Box 110290
Gainesville, FL 32611-0290
Office:
2181 McCarty Hall A
(352) 294-3151
(352) 392-3399 fax
email: crows@ufl.edu