Sougata Bardhan

sougata Dr. Sougata Bardhan
Associate Professor
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
College of Agriculture

Contact Information:
210 Humphries Hall
Telephone: 615-963-6634
Fax: 615-963-5436
Email: sbardha1@tnstate.edu
Website: www.soilhealthregen.org

Research Interests:
Soil health, soil fertility, agroforestry, soil microbiology, regenerative agriculture

About Sougata:
Sougata Bardhan is an Associate Professor of Soil Health at Tennessee State University, an 1890 land grant university in Nashville, TN and a research leader in the field of regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, and soil health with more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles, 4 book chapters, and multiple extension/popular articles in reputed outlets to his name. He has secured approximately $52 million in extramural funding, with roughly $5 million as PI.

Dr. Bardhan has a wealth of experience in research, teaching, grantsmanship, and managing graduate students and employees. He is a leader in STEM workforce development working with organizations such as NASA, USDA, and other private entities to build the future workforce.

His knowledge base is regenerative agriculture, soil health, biofuel production systems, agronomy, soil fertility, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas, and soil microbiological research with expertise in experimental design, research and analytical skills.

Grants:
USDA, NIFA, 2024 – 2027, Building a Forest Farming Network to Support Greater Farm Diversity and Enhanced Ecosystem Services in Missouri, $749,846, Principal Investigator

NCR-SARE, 2023-2026, Sheep and Goats Master Training Program in Missouri, $91, 926, Co-Principal Investigator

NCR-SARE, 2023-2025, Fencing in Silvopasture for Sheep and Goat Production Across Missouri, $89,245, Co-Principal Investigator

NASA, MUREP DEAP, 2023 – 2026, Using Data Science to Understand Soil, Wildfire, & Social Disparity of Climate Change and Air Pollution, $1,498,099, Principal Investigator

NASA, MUREP PSI, 2023 – 2028, Digital Agriculture, Data Science, & Robotics: Applied Research and Training for Enhancing Motivation in Science, $424,808, Principal Investigator

USDA, Partnership in Climate Smart Commodities, 2023 – 2028, An Integrated Approach to Scaling-Up Climate-Smart Practices for Crop, Livestock and Agroforestry Production, $25,000,000, Co-Principal Investigator

USDA, Partnership in Climate Smart Commodities, 2023 – 2028, Biochar for Climate-Smart Farms in Missouri, $4,935,000, Co-Principal Investigator

USDA, Partnership in Climate Smart Commodities, 2022 – 2027, Scaling up the Industrial Hemp Supply Chain as Carbon Negative Feedstock for Fuel and Fiber, $5,000,000, Co-Principal Investigator

USDA, 1890 Multi-state Climate Change Research, 2022 – 2023, Climate Change: Impacts for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers, Landowners & Communities of Color, $100,000, Co-Principal Investigator

USDA, OREI, 2022 – 2025, Impact of Long-Term Cover Cropped Organic Farming Practices on the Development of Disease Suppressive Soils, $749,331, Principal Investigator

NCR-SARE, 2022-2025, More Than a Woodlot - Developing Natural Resource Professionals’ Capacity to Support Forest Farming, $56,240, Principal Investigator

NASA, MUREP PSI, 2022 – 2023, Climate Change Impact on Agriculture and Ecosystem, $64,058, Principal Investigator

USDA, NIFA, 2021 – 2024, Developing a Framework for Spatial Modelling of Ok Decline in the Ozark Highlands, $589,854, Principal Investigator

NRCS, MO-CIG, 2018 – 2021, Ecosystem Services of Cover Crops, Riparian Buffers, and Crop Rotation with Biochar on Eroded Midwest Corn/Soybean Landscapes, $75,000, Co-Principal Investigator

USDA-NIFA HBCU Capacity Building Grant, USDA, 2018 – 2021, Variability of Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Soil Microbial Diversity and Function in Conventional and Alternate Land Use Systems in Floodplain Soils, $592,211, Principal Investigator (MU)

IUSSTF, Indo-US Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Consortium, 2012 – 2017, Sustainable Biomass Production, $ 12.5 million (MU share $5.4 million) Co-Principal Investigator

Etimine USA, 2015 – 2016, Effects of Various Granular Boron Sources from Etimine USA Inc. on Biomass Yield, Plant Physiology, and Soil Quality for Wheat, Corn, and Soybean, $65,000, Principal Investigator

Tree Fund, Jack Kimmel International Grant, 2013 – 2014, Impact of Storm Water Runoff on Tree Roots, Physiology and Rhizosphere Microbial Diversity in Urban Forests, $10,000, Principal Investigator

Alumni Grants for Graduate Scholarship and Research, OSU. 2008 - 2010. Novel Genes for EPTC Degradation in Soil Metagenome. $1985, Principal Investigator

NCR-SARE Graduate Student Grant. 2004 – 2007. Assessing Agricultural Soil Health and Sustainability of Management Practices. $ 9,912 Principal Investigator

Book Chapters
Umakanth, A.V., S. Bardhan, B. Suresh Reddy, M. Ahuja^.2021. Biomass Feedstocks for Advanced Biofuels: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management, In Advanced Biofuel Technologies – Present Status, Challenges, and Future Prospects; Elsevier Publishing.
Didenko,N., V. Konovalova, S. Razzaghi, A. Bandaogo, S. Bardhan and A. Sundermeier. 2021. Cover Crops for Pests and Soil-borne Disease Control and Insect Diversity In Cover Crops and Sustainable Agriculture, Eds. Rafiq Islam and Bradford Sherman, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Bardhan, S., S. Jose, L. Godsey. 2014. Cellulosic Biofuel in the United States: Targets, Achievements, Bottlenecks and Case Study of Three Advanced Biofuel Facility, Biomass and biofuels: Advanced Biorefineries for Sustainable Production and Distribution, Eds. Jose and Bhaskar.
Jose, S., H.P. Singh, D.R. Batish, R.K. Kohli, S. Bardhan. 2013. Invasive Plant Ecology: The Horse Behind the Cart? In: Invasive Plant Ecology, Eds. Jose, Singh, Batish, and Kohli, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.

Peer-reviewed Publications
Aduloju, O., Pandey, A., Eivazi, F., Bardhan, S., & Afrasiabi, Z. (2025). Evaluating the efficacy of thiolating agents for biochar surface modification. Environments, 12(3), 84.
Khadka, S., He, H. S., & Bardhan, S. (2024). Investigating the spatial pattern of white oak (Quercus alba L.) mortality using Ripley’s K function across the ten states of the eastern US. Forests, 15, 1809.
Ansari, J., Bardhan, S., Davis, M. P., Anderson, S. H., & Al-Awwal, N. (2024). Greenhouse gas emissions from riparian systems as affected by hydrological extremes: A mini-review. Cogent Food & Agriculture, 10(1)
Bardhan, S., Udawatta, R., Jose, S., Gantzer, C., & Bobryk, C. W. (2024). Phospholipid fatty acid profiling for soil microbial community analysis in a soil conservation farm in Missouri. Innovative Farming, 3, 24.
Kronenberg, R., Lovell, S., Thapa, B., Spinka, C., Valdivia, C., Gold, M., & Bardhan, S. (2023). Survey of Missouri landowners to explore the potential of woody perennials to integrate conservation and production. Land, 12(10), 1911.
Bolan, N., Srivastava, P., Rao, C. S., Satyanaraya, P. V., Anderson, G. C., Bolan, S., Nortjé, G. P., Kronenberg, R., Bardhan, S., Abbott, L. K., & Zhao, H. (2023). Distribution, characteristics, and management of calcareous soils. In Advances in Agronomy (pp. 81–130).
Ansari, J., Bardhan, S., Anderson, S. H., & Eivazi, F. (2023). Selected enzyme activities under different land use management in lower Missouri River floodplain soils. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 1–13.
Ansari, J., Bardhan, S., Eivazi, F., Anderson, S. H., & Mendis, S. S. (2023). Bacterial community diversity for three selected land use systems as affected by soil moisture regime. Applied Soil Ecology, 192, 105100.
Ansari, J., Davis, M. P., Anderson, S. H., Eivazi, F., & Bardhan, S. (2022). Greenhouse gas emissions in conventional and alternate land use systems in floodplain soils. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 234, 227–235.
Sumner, W., & Bardhan, S. (2022). Soil nutrient dependency of biochemical pathways for synthesis of plant compounds. Research Biotica, 4, 1–4.
Salceda, M., Udawatta, R. P., Nelson, K. A., Mendis, S. S., & Bardhan, S. (2022). Spatial and temporal variability of soil organic carbon on a corn–soybean watershed with 23 years of agroforestry. Agronomy Journal, 114(1), 440–451.
Burli, P., Lal, P., Wolde, B., Jose, S., & Bardhan, S. (2021). Perceptions about switchgrass and land allocation decisions: Evidence from a farmer survey in Missouri. Land Use Policy, 109, 105615.
Thomas, A. L., Kallenbach, R., Sauer, T. J., Brauer, D. K., Burner, D. M., Coggeshall, M. V., Dold, C., Rogers, W., Bardhan, S., & Jose, S. (2020). Carbon and nitrogen dynamics within four black walnut alley cropping sites across Missouri and Arkansas, USA. Agroforestry Systems, 94, 1625–1638.
Burli, P., Lal, P., Wolde, B., Jose, S., & Bardhan, S. (2019). Factors affecting willingness to cultivate switchgrass: Evidence from a farmer survey in Missouri. Energy Eco., 80, 20–29.
Weerasekara, C. S., Kitchen, N. R., Jose, S., Motavalli, P. P., Bardhan, S., & Mitchell, R. B. (2018). Yield of lignocellulosic warm-season grasses affected by nitrogen and harvest management. Agronomy Journal, 110(3), 890–899.
Bardhan, S., Chattopadhyay, A. K., Jose, S., & Chandrasoma, J. (2017). Impact of boron additions in marginal soils for growth of corn, wheat, soybean, and switchgrass. International Journal of Current Agricultural Science, 7, 155–159.
Bobryk, C. W., Rega, C. C., Bardhan, S., Farina, A., He, H. S., & Jose, S. (2016). A rapid soundscape analysis to quantify conservation benefits of temperate agroforestry systems using low-cost technology. Agroforestry Systems, 90, 997–1008.
Bunyan, M., Bardhan, S., Singh, A., & Jose, S. (2015). Effect of topography on the distribution of tropical montane forest fragments: A predictive modeling approach. Journal of Tropical Forest Science, 27, 30–38.
Udawatta, R., Kremer, R., Nelson, K., Jose, S., & Bardhan, S. (2014). Soil quality indicators of a mature alley cropping agroforestry system in temperate North America. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 45, 2539–2551.
Roberts, B. A., Fritschi, F. B., Horwath, W. R., & Bardhan, S. (2014). Nitrogen mineralization potential as influenced by microbial biomass, cotton residues, and temperature. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 38, 311–324.
Bardhan, S., Jose, S., Udawatta, R., & Fritschi, F. B. (2013). Microbial community diversity in a 21-year old temperate alley cropping system. Agroforestry Systems, 87, 1–11.
Motavalli, P., Nelson, K., Udawatta, R., Jose, S., & Bardhan, S. (2013). Global achievements on sustainable land management. International Soil and Water Conservation Research, 1, 1–10.
Motavalli, P. P., Udawatta, R., & Bardhan, S. (2013). Apparent soil electrical conductivity used to determine soil phosphorus variability in poultry litter-amended pastures. American Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 3(1), 124–141.
Motavalli, P. P., Nelson, K. A., & Bardhan, S. (2013). Development of a variable source N fertilizer management strategy using enhanced efficiency N fertilizers. Soil Science, 178, 693–703.
Bardhan, S., & Jose, S. (2012). Potential for floodplains to sustain a second generation biofuel feedstock production ecosystem. Biofuels, 3(5), 575–588.
Jose, S., & Bardhan, S. (2012). Agroforestry for biomass production and carbon sequestration: An overview. Agroforestry Systems, 86, 105–111.
Bardhan, S., Jose, S., Jenkins, M., Webster, C., Stehn, S., & Udawatta, R. (2012). Microbial community structure in soils receiving different rates of acid deposition in spruce-fir forests in the Smoky Mountains. Applied Soil Ecology, 61, 60–68.
Bardhan, S., Jose, S., Biswas, S., Kabir, K., & Rogers, W. (2012). Biodiversity in home gardens in Bangladesh – A comparison. Agroforestry Systems, 85, 29–34.
Bunyan, M., Bardhan, S., & Jose, S. (2012). The Shola (tropical montane forest)-grassland ecosystem mosaic of Peninsular India: A review. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 3, 1632–1639.
Bilen, S., Bilen, M., & Bardhan, S. (2011). Effect of boron management on soil microbial properties and enzyme activities in Turkish soils. African Journal of Biotechnology, 10(27), 5311–5319.
Bardhan, S., Chen, Y., & Dick, W. A. (2009). Recycling for sustainability: Plant growth media from coal combustion products, biosolids and composts. International Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1(4), 177–183
B a rd han , S., Watson, M., Dick. W.A. (2008). Plant Growth Response in Experimental Soilless Mixes Prepared from Coal Combustion Products and Organic Waste Materials. Soil Science, 173, 491 –500.

Extension/Technical Reports:
Bardhan, S., and Kronenberg, R. 2023. What Is Forest Farming, Lincoln University Cooperative Extension, Agroforestry, Fact Sheet.
Bardhan, S., and Kronenberg, R. 2023. Forest Farming Site Selection and Preparation Guidelines, Lincoln University Cooperative Extension, Agroforestry, Guide Sheet.
Bardhan, S., and Kronenberg, R. 2023. Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) Highlight: Sugar Maple, Lincoln University Cooperative Extension, Agroforestry, Fact Sheet.
Bardhan, S., and Kronenberg, R. 2023. Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) Highlight: Mayapple, Lincoln University Cooperative Extension, Agroforestry, Fact Sheet.
Bardhan, S., and Kronenberg, R. 2023. Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) Highlight: Ramps, Lincoln University Cooperative Extension, Agroforestry, Fact Sheet.
Bardhan, S., and Kronenberg, R. 2023. Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) Highlight: Goldenseal, Lincoln University Cooperative Extension, Agroforestry, Fact Sheet.
Bardhan, S., and Kronenberg, R. 2023. Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) Highlight: Ginseng, Lincoln University Cooperative Extension, Agroforestry, Fact Sheet.
Bardhan, S., and Kronenberg, R. 2023. Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) Highlight: Black Cohosh, Lincoln University Cooperative Extension, Agroforestry, Fact Sheet.
Bardhan, S., and Kronenberg, R. 2023. Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) Highlight: False Unicorn Root, Lincoln University Cooperative Extension, Agroforestry, Fact Sheet.

Teaching Experience:
AGSC 2400 (UG) – Fundamentals of Environmental Science (TSU)
AGR 515 (G) – Soil Management (LU)
AGR 414 (UG) – Soil, Air, Water Conservation and Management (LU)
ENVS 1100 (UG) – Environmental Science (UMC)

SOIL 4832 (UG/G) – Environmental Soil Microbiology (UMC)
FOREST 8385 (G) – Ecological Principles of Agroforestry (UMC)
BIOL 201 (UG) – Ecology (Columbia College)
BIOL 395 (UG) – Research Methods of Science (Columbia College)

Professional Memberships and Services:
Member, Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) (2004-present)
Member, Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) (2004-present)
Member, American Society of Agronomy (ASA) (2004-present)
Member, Soil and Water Conservation Society (2024-present)

Honors and Awards:
University of Missouri, Innovation Award, 2017
Induction to Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society, 2008
Induction to the Sigma-Xi honor Society, 2007

Education:
Ph.D., Ohio State University, Columbus OH
M.S., Ohio State University, Columbus OH
B.Sc. (Honors), G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, India

Date joined staff: 2025

Resume Available for Download Here