Science Talk with Naz

Jaya Nepal is a Postdoctoral researcher at the Sustainable Cropping Systems Laboratory at Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He recently graduated with PhD in Soil and Water Sciences from the University of Florida, also obtained his MSc in International Agricultural Development from the University of Tokyo. He has a broad research experience in the field of soil science and agronomy.

01:31 Jay’s research background

03:43 PhD work at Florida university: sandy soils in Florida

06:15 What/How is it made/Why C nanomaterials

12:05 Difference between Biochar & C nanomaterials

14:00 Opportunities and challenges with C nanomaterials

18:26 Brief talk about NASA & Space

19:20 Limitations & challenges of using biochar in agricultural soils

23:18 Majors findings from Jay’s PhD research: C nanomaterials & biochar as soil amendmends in sandy soils

28:00 Use of C nanoparticles & Biochar at the current state of the world

32:20 About Jay’s current research at Cornell

35:25 About dream research project

39:00 Living in different countries

41:41 Farmers & academic bubble

43:45 Skills to become a successful researcher

47:20 Hobbies…

48:38 Social media & Academia: information gap

52:27 Advice for my younger self & for starting PhDs

Connect with Jay on socials:

Twitter/X: @mejayxoxo18 / https://twitter.com/mejayxoxo18

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mejayxoxo18/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mejayxoxo18/

Link to Jay's research findings relevant to the talk:

Carbon nanomaterials are a superior soil amendment for sandy soils than biochar based on impacts on lettuce growth, physiology and soil biochemical quality: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452074823000319

Water-dispersible carbon nanomaterials improve lettuce (Latuca sativa) growth and enhance soil biochemical quality at low to medium application rates: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11104-022-05852-0

Link to Jay's review on biochar application in agriculture: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1114752/full

For the list of all publications, visit Google Scholar/Research gate:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pPEAk-wAAAAJ&hl=en

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jaya-Nepal

Link to Johannes Lehmann’s lab at Cornell who do pioneering work with biochar (Jay mentioned this during podcast):

https://lehmannlab.cals.cornell.edu/

Nano clays to convert desert into farming land (something Jay mentioned about in the podcast), BBC article:

https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/the-spray-that-turns-deserts-into-farmland.html

YouTube Videos: