HEATHER KINGERY, Forest Products Specialist, Nebraska Forest Service

Heather Nobert Kingery, American Forest Foundation, was formerly a Nebraska Forest Service Forest Products Specialist, focused on the capacity of biochar to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon as a way to combat climate change. She explored the impact of bioenergy systems and the use of non-traditional wood products to promote sustainable forest management and reduce the impacts of catastrophic wildfire.

Ms. Kingery is the Principal Investigator (PI) for two Great Plains Biochar Initiative (GPBI) grants to expand biochar education, outreach and use in the Great Plains. GPBI is a partnership between the Nebraska and Kansas Forest Service agencies. One grant is a partnership with biochar educators to teach farmers and landowners about biochar applications. The second grant, “Supply and Demand for Biochar as a Cattle Feed Additive” is a collaborative effort with University of Nebraska Animal Science researchers to quantify daily gains and gas emissions from cattle fed a diet including biochar. As part of this grant, Ms. Kingery is also overseeing development of an economic model for a Nebraska biochar production facility.

Peru Biological Station

In the Cusco Province of southeastern Peru, Ms Kingery was a research associate at the Amazon Conservation Association’s Villa Carmen Biological Station. Regionally, slash and burn agriculture is common due to the rapid nutrient depletion of tropical soils. As part of the research team, she helped run a production unit that created biochar which was applied to agricultural fields (with and without manure) and studied its effects on the productivity of corn, pineapple, and yuca (cassava).