Directory

Summary of Expertise

Soil biogeochemistry, agroecology, process based modeling

Research Interests

Dr. Hannah Waterhouse is the Assitant Professor of Agroecology and Watershed Ecology in the Environmental Studies Department at UCSC. She is a soil biogeochemist researching how to create sustainable and resilient agroecosystems for healthy communities and watersheds. In particular, her research is grounded in a couple natural-human systems framework to develop socio-ecologically relevant solutions for reducing nutrient loading from agricultural systems to the environment. To do so, she engages in particpatory and on farm research focusing on how soil health management practices can leverage soil biogeochemical and ecological processes to beneficially influence nitrogen, carbon, and water cycling, and predicting outcomes of such practices at field to watershed scales. She collaborates with rural sociologists, economists, hydrologists, policy makers, technical assistants and stakeholders to understand barriers and provide frameworks for holistically realizing sustinable and just agroecosystems. 

Biography, Education and Training

Education

Bryn Mawr College, BA Mathematics

UC Davis, MS and PhD Soil Biogeochemistry

UC Berkeley Postdoctoral Scholar

Honors, Awards and Grants

• UC Climate Action Seed Grant Co-PI 2023-2025 ($2 million)
• CDFA Fertilizer Research and Education Program Grant 2021-2025 ($223,568)
• Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program Fellow 2018-2019
• Annie's Sustainable Agriculture Fellowship 2017-2018

Selected Publications

• Acevedo, S. Waterhouse, H., Barrios-Masias, F., Dierks, J., Renwick, L. Bowles, T.M. 2022. How Does Building Healthy Soils Impact the Effective Use of Water Resources? Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

• A.S. Grandy, A.B. Daly, T.M. Bowles, A.C.M. Gaudin, A. Jilling, A. Leptin, M.D. McDaniel, J. Wade,   H. Waterhouse. 2022. The nitrogen gap in soil health concepts and fertility measurements. Soil Biology and Biochemistry.

• Carlisle, L., Esquivel, K.E., Baur, P., Waterhouse, H. … Bowles, T.M. 2022. Organic vegetable farmers face persistent structural barriers to adopting diversification practices in California’s Central Coast. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.

• Chapman, M., Waterhouse, H., Wiltshire, S. Baur, P., Carlisle, L. Esquivel, K. …2022. Tipping points in diversified farming systems. One Earth.

• Rippner, D.A., Waterhouse, H., Wade, J., Margenot, A. … 2021. Microbial response to copper oxide nanoparticles in soils is controlled by land use rather than copper fate. Environmental Science: Nano.

• Esquivel, K.E., Carlisle, L., Waterhouse, H. … Bowles, T.M. 2021. The “Sweet Spot” in the Middle: Why Do Mid-Scale Farms Adopt Diversification Practices at Higher Rates? Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.

• Waterhouse, H., Arora. B., Spycher, N.F., Nico, P.S., Ulrich, C., Uhlemann, S., Zhang, Y., Dahlke, H.E., Horwath, W.R. 2021. Influence of Agricultural Managed Aquifer Recharge and Stratigraphic Heterogeneities on Nitrate Reduction in the Deep Subsurface. WRR.

• Murphy, N.P., Waterhouse, H., Dahlke, H.E. 2021. Influence of Agricultural Managed Aquifer Recharge on nitrate transport – the role of soil texture and flooding frequency. Vadose Zone Journal.

• Miller, C. M. F., Waterhouse, H., Harter, T. H., Fadel, J.G., Meyer, D. 2020. Quantifying the Uncertainty in Nitrogen Application and Groundwater Nitrate Loading in Manure Based Cropping Systyems. Agricultural Systems. 184. 102877.

• Waterhouse, H., Bachand, S., Mountjoy, D., Choperena, J., Bachand, P. A. M, Dahlke, H.E., Horwath, R. W. 2020. Considerations for Agricultural Managed Aquifer Recharge on Nitrate and Salt Movement Below the Root Zone. California Agriculture. 74 (3) 144-154.

• Dahlke, H.E., La Hue, G.T., Mautner, M.R.L, Murphy, N.P., Patterson, N.K., Waterhouse, H., Yang, F., Foglia, L. 2018. Managed Aquifer Recharge as a tool to enhance sustainable groundwater management in California: examples from field and modeling studies. In Advances in Chemical Pollution, Environmental Management and Protection: Advanced Tools for Integrated Water Resources Management Volume 3. Jan Friesen and Leonor Rodriguez (Ed.)

• Wade, J., Waterhouse, H., Horwath, W.R. 2018. Structural Equation Modelling Reveals Iron (Hydr)Oxides as a Strong Mediator of N Mineralization in California Agricultural Soils. Geoderma. Vol. 315. P. 120-129

• Waterhouse, H., Wade, J., Horwath, W.R., Burger, M. 2017. Effects of Positively Charged Dicyandiamide and Nitrogen Fertilizer Sources on Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Irrigated Corn. Jour. Env. Qual. Vol. 46. No. 5, p. 1123-1130.