About

Jonathan Alexander is an affiliated faculty member at the Connected Learning Lab, working within the fields of Informatics, English, and the Division of Undergraduate Education. His interdisciplinary approach involves exploring the creation and uptake of texts as they serve various ideological functions in specific contexts. His research primarily focuses on written and digital production in the extra-curricular sphere, including self- and collectively-sponsored multimodal forms of composition such as fan texts. Through his work, Alexander engages in interdisciplinary troublemaking, examining how different forms of textual production influence and reflect ideological and cultural dynamics.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Environmental science
• Physics
• Environmental chemistry
• Engineering
• Waste management
• Thermodynamics
• Biology
• Agronomy
• Environmental engineering

Selected publications

• Perspective: Impacts of dairy forage management on soil carbon change and net zero accounting

  Journal of Dairy Science · 2025-03-04

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  ) reported in the literature. However, biogenic emissions from soil C loss are not typically represented within C footprints or life cycle inventories. Using an example dairy farm, we demonstrate that including emissions associated with soil C losses under dairy forage production can increase the C footprint of milk nearly 2-fold. We suggest that this approach represents a more accurate estimate of the emissions impact of milk production, and that gains in the GHG efficiency of milk have come, in part, at the expense of soil C, where forage rotations are predominated by silage corn. The C balance of forage production systems can likely be improved with advanced manure management technologies and application strategies that return more manurial C to the soil while minimizing N and P loading. However, we argue that more extensive changes to forage cropping systems will also be required. Expanding the role of perennials and winter annual crops in forage rotations; breeding forages with greater yield, persistence, and deeper more extensive root systems; and additional creative solutions to retain more plant-derived C in soils are necessary to balance soil C budgets and achieve net zero emissions targets.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Stock change accounting overestimates the potential climate benefit of soil carbon storage

  Soil Science Society of America Journal · 2024-03-04 · 4 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Agriculture is being called upon to increase carbon (C) storage in soils to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) accumulation in the atmosphere. Cropping systems research can be used to support GHG mitigation efforts, but we must quantify land management impacts using appropriate assumptions and unambiguous methods. Soil C sequestration is considered temporary because it can be re‐emitted as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) if the effecting practice is not maintained and/or the soil–plant system is disturbed, for example, as the result of changing climate. Because of this, the climate benefit of soil C sequestration depends on the time that C is held out of the atmosphere. When assessing the net GHG impact of management practices, soil C storage is often aggregated with non‐CO 2 (N 2 O and CH 4 ) emissions after converting all components to CO 2 equivalents (CO 2 e) and assuming a given time horizon (TH), in what is known as stock change accounting . However, such analyses do not consider potential re‐emission of soil C or apply consistent assumptions about time horizons. Here, we demonstrate that tonne‐year accounting provides a more conservative estimate of the emissions offsetting potential of soil C storage compared to stock change accounting. Tonne‐year accounting can be used to reconcile differences in the context and timeframes of soil C sequestration and non‐CO 2 GHG emissions. The approach can be applied post hoc to commonly observed cropping systems data to estimate GHG emissions offsets associated with agricultural land management over given THs and with more clearly defined assumptions.

  PublisherDOI

• The LTAR Cropland Common Experiment at Upper Mississippi River Basin–St. Paul

  Journal of Environmental Quality · 2024-09-10 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract The Soil and Water Management Research Unit of the USDA‐Agricultural Research Service is located in St. Paul, MN, and conducts long‐term research at the University of Minnesota Research and Outreach Center located at Rosemount, MN. As part of USDA's Long‐Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network, the croplands common experiment (CCE) at this location is focused on integration of a kura clover ( Trifolium ambiguum M. Bieb.) living mulch (KCLM) system into the prevailing 2‐year rotation of corn ( Zea mays L.) and soybean ( Glycine max L.) that is typical of the midwestern Corn Belt. The LTAR‐CCE conducted at Rosemount, MN, aims to compare the long‐term environmental and agronomic performance of KCLM while identifying challenges and developing management strategies for this alternative practice. The use of a living mulch for this region is advantageous because, once established, it does not require additional time for fall field operations typically associated with winter cover crops. Results from LTAR‐CCE studies at this site show that KCLM results in a substantial increase in soil field‐saturated hydraulic conductivity and decreases in leaching of nitrate‐nitrogen (NO 3 − ‐N). Disadvantages of the KCLM system include potential for increased emissions of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and reduced crop yields, particularly during drought. Also, the optimal approach for crop row establishment in the spring remains uncertain. Ongoing LTAR‐CCE research with KCLM aims to better understand and quantify both benefits and risks across conditions of interannual weather variability and changing climate to develop guidance for suitable adoption and management of this alternative practice.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Maize performance in a kura clover living mulch under drought conditions

  Agrosystems Geosciences & Environment · 2023-01-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Row establishment is important to mitigate competition with maize ( Zea mays L.) seedlings in a kura clover ( Trifolium ambiguum Bieb.) living mulch (KCLM). This study investigated the effect of row‐establishment and fertilizer nitrogen (N) rate on maize yield and N uptake in a KCLM system in Arlington, WI, and Rosemount, MN, during the 2021 growing season. Row establishment treatments included rotary zone tillage (RZT), shank strip‐tillage (ST), and banded herbicides (BH), each evaluated at six N rates from 0 to 225 kg N ha −1 . Extended periods of moderate and severe drought were experienced during the study period. The Arlington and Rosemount sites received 64 and 63% of the normal precipitation between 20 Apr. and 31 Oct. 2021, but poor distribution and higher temperatures at Rosemount elevated drought severity indices at that site. Grain yields at Rosemount were 3.6 Mg ha −1 , whereas Arlington produced yields that matched expectations for the area (10 Mg ha −1 ). Row establishment affected maize grain yield differentially at each site, where, under severe drought conditions, BH maximized maize yield, whereas under moderate drought conditions, the higher level of tillage (RZT) maximized maize yield. These responses are most likely attributed to reduced moisture loss in the row‐zone of the BH treatment and the greater level of clover suppression in the RZT treatment and their interactions with specific weather conditions at the research sites. Results from this study indicate that row establishment methods in a KCLM cropping system should be considered with spring environmental conditions and the expected weather outlook.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Inclusion of Infants and Toddlers With Significant Support Needs Across Natural Environments: What Can Early Interventionists Do?

  Inclusive Practices · 2023-05-15 · 1 citations

  article

  Infants and toddlers with significant support needs (SSNs) receive early intervention services under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. These services occur in a variety of children’s natural environments, which may include their home, child care, community parks, extended family members’ homes, etc. It is important that early interventionists who provide developmental services to children with SSNs and their caregivers are equipped with strategies they can use to promote meaningful inclusion of this unique population. This paper illustrates what high-quality inclusion can look like and provides strategies that early interventionists can implement with various caregivers in a child’s life.

  PublisherDOI

• Estimating nitrogen inputs from a Kura clover living mulch system for maize production

  Plant and Soil · 2023-08-23 · 3 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Spatiotemporal distribution of roots in a Maize-Kura clover living mulch system: Impact of tillage and fertilizer N source

  Soil and Tillage Research · 2022 · 7 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Agronomy
  • Environmental science
  • Biology
  PublisherDOI

• Capture efficiency of four chamber designs for measuring ammonia emissions

  Agrosystems Geosciences & Environment · 2021 · 10 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Chemistry
  • Environmental science
  • Environmental engineering

  Abstract Ammonia (NH 3 ) emissions are an economically and environmentally significant loss pathway of fertilizer and soil‐derived N. Chambers are a commonly used method to quantify NH 3 emissions in plot‐scale agricultural research. Although this method is widely used, its accuracy may be influenced by the overall design of the chamber, its components, and its interaction with the environment. Four NH 3 chamber designs, including open, open + polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), semi‐open, and closed, were deployed over a dilute NH 3 solution for 6 h on four dates to determine the effect of chamber design on NH 3 capture efficiency. The solution volume and concentration were measured before and after acid trap deployment, and total volatile NH 3 emission was assumed to be equal to the mass N loss. The NH 3 capture efficiency relative to the estimated total emissions was greatest for the open design (12.9%), whereas the semi‐open chamber was the least efficient (3.5%). The closed chamber reduced NH 3 emissions relative to the open and semi‐open designs by inhibiting convective gas transport beneath the chamber footprint.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nitrogen Dynamics and Management for Maize Production in Kura Clover Living Mulch

  University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy (University of Minnesota) · 2019-06-01

  dissertationOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  University of Minnesota M.S. thesis. June 2019. Major: Land and Atmospheric Science. Advisors: John Baker, Rodney Venterea. 1 computer file (PDF); x, 60 pages + 2 supplementary tables

  Publisher

• Kura Clover Living Mulch Reduces Fertilizer N Requirements and Increases Profitability of Maize

  Agronomy · 2019-08-06 · 15 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Kura clover living mulch (KCLM) systems have been previously investigated for their incorporation into upper Midwestern row crop rotations to provide ecosystem services through continuous living cover. Reductions in soil erosion and nitrate loss to surface and groundwater have been reported, but factors affecting agronomic performance and nutrient management are not well defined. To achieve realized environmental benefits, research must develop agronomic management techniques, determine economic opportunities, and provide management recommendations for row crop production in KCLM systems. Two experiments were conducted in 2017 and 2018 to determine the response to N fertilizer application for maize production in KCLM. The first-year maize experiment followed forage management, and the second-year maize experiment followed maize after forage management. Eight fertilizer N treatments ranging from 0–250 kg N ha−1 were applied to each experiment and grain and stover yields were compared to conventionally managed maize hybrid trials that were conducted nearby. First-year maize did not need fertilizer N to maximize yield and profitability in either growing season, and second-year maize required a fertilizer N rate near local University guidelines for maize following soybean. The net economic return from maize grain and stover in the KCLM averaged over first and second-year maize experiments and 2017 and 2018 growing seasons were $138 ha−1 greater than the conventional comparison.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Rodney T. Venterea

  20 shared

• John M. Baker

  United States Department of Agriculture

  18 shared

• Joshua D. Gamble

  10 shared

• Kurt A. Spokas

  Agricultural Research Service

  10 shared

• Jared A. Spackman

  University of Idaho

  2 shared

• Jeffrey A. Coulter

  University of Minnesota

  2 shared

• Fabián G. Fernández

  University of Minnesota

  1 shared

• Moreno Arrobo

  1 shared

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy, Soil, Water, and Climate

  University of Minnesota

  2022

• Master of Science, Soil, Water, and Climate

  University of Minnesota

  2019

• Bachelor of Science, Plant and Earth Science

  University of Wisconsin–River Falls

  2017