Episode 3: Interview with Dr. Adrienne Keller - Understanding and Communicating about Forest Carbon
Asccing the Experts Podcast
Overview
This episode features an interview with Dr. Adrienne Keller, a terrestrial ecosystem ecologist and soil carbon scientist associated with Michigan Tech University and the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS). In this interview, Adrienne describes her work and interest in above and below ground forest carbon. She starts off by describing the miraculous world of mycorrhizal fungi leading into a discussion about forest soil carbon and carbon cycling. Adrienne also explains how she effectively communicates about forest carbon with managers, and shares insight about the value of place-based knowledge had by on-the-ground practitioners. She ends by mentioning some resources that listeners can use to boost their carbon confidence and competence, which are included in the show notes. Be sure to take a look at those, and the other resources below, and check back in in two weeks for the next episode!
Defintitions
- The UN Food and Agriculture Organization defines carbon pools as “reservoir[s] of carbon” and systems that have“ the capacity to accumulate or release carbon,” carbon sinks as “Any process or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere,” and carbon fluxes as the “transfer of carbon from one carbon pool to another in units of measurement of mass per unit area and time (e.g., t C ha -1 yr-1).”
- Carbon uptake (sequestration) is a “process by which plants take up atmospheric carbon dioxide and convert it to biomass (plant biomass is approximately 50% carbon).” It is a flux and is “commonly expressed as units of carbon sequestered from atmosphere into forest per year” (Keller, 2025, Forest Carbon 101 Presentation).
- Carbon emissions are “carbon that moves from the forest into the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse gas effect.” They are a flux and “part of the natural carbon cycle; humans have disrupted the carbon cycle primarily by moving fossil fuels into the active carbon cycle” (Keller, 2025, Forest Carbon 101 Presentation).
- Carbon storage is “carbon that is retained in a pool at a given time.” It is a stock and is “commonly expressed as units of carbon stored in a forest pool” (Keller, 2025, Forest Carbon 101 Presentation).
- According to the USDA Forest Service, carbon Stewardship “consists of actions informed by carbon science that foster carbon uptake or storage in plants and soils or increase long-term carbon stability through land-use and vegetation management strategies.” Carbon stewardship has four main principles: timescale, stability, climate adaptation, and holistic management.
- The US Natural Resource Conservation Service describes mycorrhizal fungi as fungi that form a relationship with plants that supports plant and fungi growth.
- According to Alexander et al. (2021), mesophication refers to the hypothesized process that that mesophytes—which are opportunistic plants that prefer wetter, shadier conditions—encourage wetter conditions through shade creation and water retention to proliferate their own growth, often resulting in altered species composition and fire exclusion in the areas they establish successfully.
REsources
Dr. Adrienne Keller’s website Adriennebkeller.com.
Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS) home page.
The Newell and Ann Meyer Nature Preserve (site protected by the Nature Conservancy) information page.
Engaged Science Strategies, Opportunities and Benefits by Dr. Adrienne Keller
Primers co-authored by Dr. Adrienne Keller:
Music Attribution
The intro and outro music used in this podcast is from the song Harmony by artist Ketsa. The track used is licensed under Creative Commons License BY 4.0.