Charles W. Rice, university distinguished professor of soil microbiology at K-State, has conducted long-term research on soil organic dynamics, nitrogen transformations and microbial ecology.
Recently, his research has focused on soil and global climate change, including C and N emissions in agricultural and grassland ecosystems, and soil carbon sequestration and its potential benefits to the ecosystem.
Internationally, Rice was a member of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He also is one of five team leaders for a $20 million Kansas NSF EPSCoR project researching global climate change and renewable energy research. Rice will lead the group that will use climate modeling tactics to predict the effects of climate change and develop strategies for adaptation and mitigation.
Rice’s research has been supported by more than $15 million in grants from the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Energy, National Science Foundation and others. He is director of the Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases. He has advised more than 30 graduate students and has more than 100 publications.
Rice earned his bachelor's from Northern Illinois University and his doctorate from the University of Kentucky. He joined the K-State faculty in 1988, was promoted to associate professor in 1993 and to professor in 1998. He was named a university distinguished professor in 2009.
In addition to his involvement in research and teaching in soil microbiology at K-State, Rice has been active with the Soil Science Society of America, where he is president-elect. He currently serves on the National Academies Board on Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Air Quality Task Force.
He chairs the Commission on Soils, Food Security and Public Health of the International Union of Soil Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Rice can be reached at 785-532-7217 or cwrice@k-state.edu.