Salem, Oregon, USA
June 2, 2021
The Soil Health Institute’s Lead Scientist for the North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements, Dr. Shannon Cappellazzi, has been named by cover crop, forage and turf seed industry leader GO Seed to lead its research into sustainable seed solutions to combat climate change, announced co-founder and president Jerry Hall today.
“Shannon is one of our country’s most highly respected scientists in the field of soil health analysis,” said Hall. “Leveraging her expertise in soil and plant relationships and her wide network within the agricultural research community, we’re going to be able to understand so much more about the impact of products and current management practices on the environment.”
Cappellazzi will be working with GO Seed’s partners and customers, Ag Research Services, the National Ecological Observatory Network, Oregon State University (where she serves on the courtesy faculty) and research collaborators across the U.S., Canada and Mexico on soil health studies and policies that will encourage producers to adopt best management practices to significantly change the environmental impacts of agriculture.
Go Seed has been on the forefront of regenerative agriculture research and products and Cappellazzi is looking forward to her research having an impact on its cover crops, forage and turf products.
“My career goal is the reintegration of cropping and livestock systems - the way it has worked for 40 centuries – by letting animals go back into pastures,” she said. “Of all soil health methods, having an integrated perennial grazing system is by far the best.”
Hall and Capellazzi are also interested in conducting research on reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with maintaining a turf; developing flowering products to increase pollinator habitats; and promoting carbon sequestration.
“The ecosystem benefits that turf can present are currently being glossed over,” said Hall, who will continue to head GO Seed’s breeding programs. “Shannon’s research will enable us develop seed varieties that will minimize the amount of water turf is using and reduce the need to mow from weekly to monthly.”
Hall noted that recent research in Arizona has shown that green lawns can mitigate ambient temperatures by a several degrees.
Keith Berns, co-founder of Nebraska-based Green Cover Seed and a popular speaker on the soil economy or “carbonomics,” said, “Interest in cover crops and other regenerative agriculture tools is at an all-time high. The creative applications of cover crop species by innovative farmers is really pushing the limits of the current seed offerings on the market. We need new and improved cultivars of cover crops to help these producers meet their goals. GO Seed has been an industry leader in new product development and with the addition of Dr. Cappellazzi to the GO Seed team, the ceiling for innovation and development just got raised!”
Prior to serving as SHI’s liaison for the western United States and the disciplinary lead for the Institute’s analysis of soil health in pastures and rangelands, Cappellazzi, an Oregon native, was Manager at the Oregon State University Central Analytical Laboratory. Earlier in her career, she was the Equestrian Manager for Wheelbarrow Creek Ranch and an agricultural commodities trader for Wilbur-Ellis Company.
Cappellazzi is a member of the Soil Science Society of America and serves as a board member of the Oregon Society of Soil Scientists and the Oregon Forage and Grassland Council. She received her B.S. in Animal Science and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Soil Science from Oregon State University.
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