Asmeret Asefaw Berhe's research improves our understanding of how soil regulates the Earth's climate and responds to wildfire, erosion, climate change, and land use. Dr. Berhe is Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry and Environmental Engineering, and Ted & Jan Falasco Chair in Earth Sciences and Geology at the University of California, Merced. She is also the Director of the UC Merced Earth Institute. Her work spans soil science, geochemistry, global change science, and political ecology, with a particular focus on the two-way relationship between soil and the human communities that depend on it.
She previously served as the Director of the US Department of Energy's Office of Science (Senate-confirmed Presidential nomination), and previously served as Associate Dean for Graduate Education. Dr. Berhe is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, and the Geological Society of America, among the many honors she has received for her scientific and public service.