On November 18, 2025, Professor Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, the 2024 recipient for the Sustainability Award by the Nobel Sustainability Trust, visited SESS at the invitation of Professor Yan Zhifeng. He delivered an academic report titled "From field measurements to national inventories and smart incentives—the Smart Field approach for agricultural soil N₂O fluxes."
During the report, Professor Butterbach-Bahl systematically addressed key challenges in reducing agricultural emissions and outlined future research priorities, offering valuable international perspectives and methodological insights to faculty and students. He emphasized the critical role of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture to combat climate change. Highlighting the "Smart Field" initiative, he introduced a comprehensive framework that bridges science and policy, from local testing to systemic implementation. This approach aims to deliver field-validated solutions to enhance climate resilience and achieve emission reductions in agriculture.
Professor Klaus Butterbach-Bahl is the head of the Pioneer Center for Landscape Research in Sustainable Agricultural Futures (Land-CRAFT). He is highly regarded for his research in biogeochemistry of both natural and managed ecosystems, and he has been a leading force in the development of nitrogen cycling processes, in understanding of nitrous oxide emissions from land to atmosphere and how to measure and model environmental N losses and its impacts on ecosystems at various spatio-temporal scales. He has been awarded the prestigious "Outstanding Research and Development in Agriculture" honor at the 2024 Sustainability Awards, supported by the Nobel Sustainability Trust, for his groundbreaking contributions for sustainable agriculture.
