Deirdre Griffin LaHue
Assistant Professor, Soil Health & Sustainable Soil Management d.griffin@wsu.edu 360-848-6127 General Campus - Mount Vernon REC 16650 State Route 536, Mount Vernon, WA 98273 https://labs.wsu.edu/soilhealth-nwrec/Education
- Ph.D., Soils and Biogeochemistry, University of California, Davis, 2018
- M.S., Soils and Biogeochemistry, University of California, Davis, 2015
- B.S., Environmental Science and Policy, University of Maryland, College Park, 2012
Research Interests
My research focuses on the impacts of agricultural practices (e.g. cover cropping, tillage, amendments, rotations) on soil health and the soil organisms that facilitate many of the functions we look for in a healthy soil, including strong aggregate structure, efficient cycling of nutrients and carbon, and disease suppression. I take a systems approach to understand processes occurring at the micro-scale, such as microbial community shifts, nutrient dynamics, or changes in carbon pools, and to link them to outcomes at the field-scale to develop soil management strategies that will improve the productivity, profitability, and long-term resilience of our cropping systems. I am also working to identify regionally-relevant benchmark values of soil health indicators to track progress towards improved soil sustainability.
Publications
*Extension
Griffin-LaHue, D., D. Wang, A.C.M. Gaudin, B. Durbin-Johnson, M.L. Settles, K.M. Scow. 2023. Extended soil surface drying triggered by subsurface drip irrigation decouples carbon and nitrogen cycles and alters microbiome composition. Frontiers in Soil Science 3, 1267685.
Waterhouse, H., F. Aburto, G. Rees, D. Griffin-LaHue, W.B. Salls, D.A. Rippner, Z. Tian, K.M. Scow, A.T. O’Geen. 2023. Diversified vegetation types on rangelands promote multiple soil-based ecosystem services. Land Degradation & Development, 1-18.
*McIlquham, M., M. Moyer, J. Davenport, D. Rippner, D. Gelardi, T. Potter, L. Michel, D. Griffin-LaHue. 2023. FS378E: Soil Health in Washington Vineyards. WSU Extension.
*Breslauer, R., K. Smith, D. Griffin-LaHue. 2023. FS379E: A Practical Guide to Soil Health Indicators for Monitoring Shifts in Soil Organic Matter. WSU Extension.
Seefeldt, S.S., T.M. Una, D. McMoran, B. Maupin, E. Myhre, D. Griffin-LaHue. 2023. Impacts of two years of autumn cover crops in Northwestern Washington on Winter Annual Weed Populations. Weed Science 71(2), 150-159.
Liptzin, D., E.L. Rieke, S.B. Cappellazzi, G. Mac Bean, M. Cope, K.L.H Greub, C.E. Norris, P.W. Tracy,…, D. Griffin-LaHue, …., C.W. Honeycutt. 2023. An evaluation of nitrogen indicators of soil health in long-term agricultural experiments. Soil Science Society of America Journal 87, 868-884.
Una, T.M., D. McMoran, S.S. Seefeldt, B. Maupin, E. Myhre, D. Griffin-LaHue*. 2022. Short-term impacts of cover crops in maritime potato (Solanum tuberosum) systems. Agrosystems, Geosciences, and Environment 5, 1-11.
Madrid, B., H. Zhang, C.A. Miles, M. Kraft, D. Griffin-LaHue, L.W. DeVetter. 2022. Humic and acetic acid have the potential to enhance deterioration of select plastic BDMs in a Mediterranean climate. Agriculture 12, 865.
Bagnall, D.K., G.M. Bean, D. Liptzin, S.B. Cappellazzi, M. Cope, K.L.H. Greub, E.L. Rieke, C.E. Norris, P.W. Tracy, …, D. Griffin-LaHue, …, C.W. Honeycutt. 2022. Selecting soil hydraulic properties as indicators of soil health: Measurement response to management and site characteristics. Soil Science Society of America Journal 86(5), 1206-1226.
Liptzin, D., C.E. Norris, S.B. Cappellazzi, G. Mac Bean, M. Cope, K.L.H Greub, E.L. Rieke, P.W. Tracy,…, D. Griffin-LaHue, …., C.W. Honeycutt. 2022. An evaluation of carbon indicators of soil health in long-term agricultural experiments. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 172, 108708.
Rieke, E.L., D.K. Bagnall, C.L.S. Morgan, K.L.H. Greub, G.M. Bean, S.B. Cappellazzi, M. Cope, D. Liptzin, C.E. Norris, P.W. Tracy, …., D. Griffin-LaHue, et al. 2022. Evaluation of aggregate stability methods for soil health. Geoderma 428.
Bagnall, D.K., C.L.S. Morgan, M. Cope, G.M. Bean, S.B. Cappellazzi, K.L.H. Greub, D. Liptzin, C.E. Norris, E.L. Rieke, P.W. Tracy, …, D. Griffin-LaHue, …C.W. Honeycutt. 2022. Carbon‐sensitive pedotransfer functions for plant available water. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 1–18.
Rieke, E.L., S.B. Cappellazzi, M. Cope, D. Liptzin, G.M. Bean, K.L.H. Greub, C.E. Norris, P.W. Tracy, …, D. Griffin-LaHue, …C.L.S. Morgan, C.W. Honeycutt. Linking soil microbial community structure to potential carbon mineralization: A continental scale assessment of reduced tillage. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 168, 108618.
Griffin-LaHue, D., S. Ghimire, Y. Yu, E.J. Scheenstra, C.A. Miles, and M. Flury. 2022. In-field degradation of soil-biodegradable plastic mulch films in a Mediterranean climate. Sci. Total Environ. 806, 150238.
Yu, Y., D. Griffin-LaHue, C.A. Miles, D.G. Hayes, and M. Flury. 2021. Are micro- and nanoplastics from soil-biodegradable plastic mulches an environmental concern ? J. Hazard. Mater. Adv. 4, 100024.
Zhang, H., C. Miles, B. Gerdeman, D.G. LaHue, and L.W. DeVetter. 2021. Plastic mulch use in perennial fruit cropping systems – A review. Scientia Horticulturae. 281:109975.
*Sullivan, D.M., A. Tomasek, D. Griffin-LaHue, E. Verhoeven, A.D. Moore, L.J. Brewer, A.I. Bary, C.G. Cogger, D. Biswanath. 2022. PNW 508: Fertilizing with biosolids. Pacific Northwest Extension.
*Sullivan, D.M., D. Griffin-LaHue, B. Dari, A.I. Bary, C.G. Cogger. 2021. PNW 511: Worksheet for calculating biosolids application rates in agriculture. Pacific Northwest Extension.
Li, M., J.E. Schmidt., D.G. LaHue, P.A. Lazicki, A. Kent, M.B. Machmuller, K.M. Scow, A.C. Gaudin. 2020. Impact of irrigation strategies on tomato root distribution and rhizosphere processes in an organic system. Frontiers in Plant Science. 11:360.
Shackelford, G.E., Kelsey, T.R., Sutherland, W.J., Kennedy, C.M., Wood, S.A., Gennet, S., Karp, D.S., Kremen, C., Seavy, N.E., Jedlicka, J.A., Graveur, K., Kross, S.M., Bossio, D.A., Muñoz-Sáez, A., LaHue, D.G., Garbach, K., Ford, L.D., Felice, M., Reynolds, M.D., Rao, D.R., Boomer, K., LeBruhn, G., Dicks, L.V. 2019. Evidence synthesis as the basis for decision analysis: A method of selecting the best agricultural practices for multiple ecosystem services. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 3:83.
Margenot, A.J., Griffin, D.E., Alves, B.S.Q., Rippner, D.A., Li, C., Parikh, S.J. 2018. Substitution of peat moss with softwood biochar for soil-free marigold growth. Industrial Crops and Products. 112: 160-169.
Griffin, D.E., Wang, D., Parikh, S.J., Scow, K.M. 2017. Short-lived effects of walnut shell biochar on soils and crop yields in a long-term field experiment. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment. 236: 21-29.
Wang, D., Griffin, D.E., Parikh, S.J., Scow, K.M. 2016. Impact of biochar amendment on soil water soluble carbon in the context of extreme hydrological events. Chemosphere. 160: 287-292.
Griffin, D.E. 2012. Managing Abiotic Factors of Compost to Increase Soilborne Disease Suppression. Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education. 41: 31-34.