Author Archives: Lutz Merbold

Research activities under COVID-19: a case of the ReDEAL project
Climate change / Countries / COVID19 / CRPs / East Africa / Environment / ILRI / Kenya / Livestock / LIVESTOCKCRP / Mazingira / Regions / SLS

Research activities under COVID-19: a case of the ReDEAL project

Posted on by • Leave a comment

This blog has been written by Dr. Alice Onyango “If we continue to treat this disease normally, it will treat us abnormally” is a popular quote in Kenya, recently originating from Hon. Mutahi Kagwe, the Cabinet Secretary of Health. This is true in all facets of life including research, where we must accept a “new … Continue reading →

Setting up a soil analytical laboratory at University of Kabianga
Climate change / Countries / CRPs / East Africa / Environment / Food Systems / ILRI / Kenya / LIVESTOCKCRP / Mazingira / Regions / Research Infrastructure

Setting up a soil analytical laboratory at University of Kabianga

Posted on by • Leave a comment

The Restoring African Degraded Landscaped (ReDEAL) project is an interdisciplinary and collaboratively coordinated research project that aims at helping smallholder to avoid further and possibly reverse land degradation without compromising livelihoods and food production. The project partners are Lancaster University, University of Manchester, CIFOR, ILRI and the university of Kabianga. Part of the project is … Continue reading →

Where does the methane in the atmosphere come from?
Capacity strengthening / Climate change / Countries / CRPs / East Africa / Emission Factors / Environment / Greenhouse Gas / ILRI / Kenya / Livestock / LIVESTOCKCRP / Mazingira / Regions

Where does the methane in the atmosphere come from?

Posted on by • Leave a comment

In February 2020 a team from ILRI’s Mazingira Centre, Royal Holloway, University of London and Cambridge University went on a trip through Southern Kenya to sample air. Sampling air may sound arbitrary yet the bigger aim of this field campaign was to derive samples from livestock including cattle, sheep, goats and camels as well as … Continue reading →

Two students from Braeburn International School Arusha joining Mazingira for a week
Capacity strengthening / Climate change / Countries / East Africa / Emission Factors / Environment / Greenhouse Gas / ILRI / Kenya / Mazingira / Regions / Research Infrastructure / SLS / Tanzania / Uncategorized

Two students from Braeburn International School Arusha joining Mazingira for a week

Posted on by • Leave a comment

At the end of February 2019, two students from the Braeburn International School Arusha joined the Mazingira Team for one week. They were not just looking over our shoulders to learn about what a typical environmental laboratory looks alike but actually got quite some hands-on experience. Read their short report below: By Melchim Roothaert and … Continue reading →

Building capacity in greenhouse gas analytics beyond ILRI’s Mazingira Centre
Capacity strengthening / CCAFS / Climate change / Countries / CRPs / East Africa / Emission Factors / Environment / Greenhouse Gas / ILRI / Kenya / LIVESTOCKCRP / Mazingira / Research Infrastructure / SLS

Building capacity in greenhouse gas analytics beyond ILRI’s Mazingira Centre

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Besides the scaling of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using models (see our previous training event here) there is a crucial need to build capacity on core analytics for GHG concentrations measurements such as gas chromatography. Based on the available instruments within ILRI’s Mazingira Centre, local universities (Maseno University) and national research centres (KALRO) we invited … Continue reading →

Training on modelling greenhouse gas emissions from livestock systems in Africa
Capacity strengthening / CCAFS / Climate change / Countries / CRPs / Emission Factors / Environment / Greenhouse Gas / ILRI / Livestock / LIVESTOCKCRP / Mazingira / SLS

Training on modelling greenhouse gas emissions from livestock systems in Africa

Posted on by • 1 Comment

Between 22nd and 26th October, ILRI’s Mazingira Centre and FAO jointly organised a training workshop on modelling greenhouse gas emissions from livestock systems in Africa. Why is this important? Current greenhouse gas emission estimates from livestock and manure in Africa are primarily estimating based on existing expert knowledge which is predominantly derived from livestock systems in developed … Continue reading →

First continuous greenhouse gas measurements and validation of satellite derived land surface temperature estimates in East African drylands
Capacity strengthening / Climate change / Countries / East Africa / Emission Factors / Environment / Greenhouse Gas / ILRI / Kenya / Mazingira / Regions / Research Infrastructure

First continuous greenhouse gas measurements and validation of satellite derived land surface temperature estimates in East African drylands

Posted on by • Leave a comment

by Thomas Dowling (King’s College London) and Lutz Merbold (Mazingira Centre, ILRI) Since the beginning of August 2018, the International Livestock Research Institute’s (ILRI’s) Kapiti research station, approximately 60km South of Nairobi, has become a reference site for the validation of satellite derived land surface temperature (LST) in partnership with King’s College London (KCL). While … Continue reading →

Voices from the lab: Postdoctoral researcher shares her first field trip experience
Climate change / Countries / Dairying / East Africa / Emission Factors / Environment / Greenhouse Gas / ILRI / Kenya / Livestock / Mazingira / Regions / SLS

Voices from the lab: Postdoctoral researcher shares her first field trip experience

Posted on by • Leave a comment

In this blog, one of the most recent Mazingira members, Sonja Leitner (Postdoctoral researcher, soil ecologist) who started with the team on 1st March 2018, shares an experience of her first field trip to Tanzania. From 25-30/03/2018, I joined Lutz Merbold and Phyllis Ndung’u on a field trip to Tanzania, where we visited different smallholder … Continue reading →

Mazingira contributes to a global litter decomposition initiative
Climate change / East Africa / Environment / ILRI / Mazingira / Regions

Mazingira contributes to a global litter decomposition initiative

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Plant litter represents a major carbon pool in the global carbon cycle and accurate estimates of litter decomposition resulting in a major flux of CO2 to the atmosphere will allow to better constrain carbon turnover in ecosystems. Therefore a global approach – the TeaComposition Initiative – was taken (more info here: TeaComposition). In brief, within … Continue reading →

First Mazingira PhD student – Alice Onyango – successfully defended her thesis
Capacity strengthening / CCAFS / Countries / CRPs / East Africa / Emission Factors / Environment / Greenhouse Gas / ILRI / Kenya / Livestock / Mazingira / Regions / SLS

First Mazingira PhD student – Alice Onyango – successfully defended her thesis

Posted on by • 2 Comments

Congratulations Alice Onyango for successfully defending your PhD thesis on 18th January 2018 at University of Hohenheim, Germany. The Mazingira Team is very proud of you! Continue reading →