Plantae Presents: A Smaller Carbon Footprint in Plant Science
Plantae Presents: A Smaller Carbon Footprint in Plant Science
Featuring Yadunath Bajgai and K. C. Bansal
When: Monday, April 27, 2026, at
7:00 AM PDT | 10:00 AM EDT | 3:00 PM BST | 10:00 PM Beijing
About this Webinar
Advances in plant science have greatly accelerated research, but they also come with increasing environmental costs, from energy-intensive laboratories and computing infrastructure to field experiments and global research networks. As the scientific community works toward more sustainable practices, it is important to explore how plant science can contribute to reducing its own carbon footprint while supporting climate-resilient agriculture.
This webinar brings together experts in plant genetics, soil science, and sustainability to discuss practical strategies for lowering carbon emissions in plant science and agriculture. Through this discussion, viewers will gain insights into how research, innovation, and responsible practices can help build a more climate-conscious future for plant science.
Hosted by the 2026 Plantae Fellows.
SPEAKERS
Yadunath Bajgai
Dr. Yadunath Bajgai is a Research Scientist at the Lal Carbon Center in The Ohio State University, USA. Prior to joining Ohio State, he served for more than two decades in the Department of Agriculture under the Royal Government of Bhutan, where he advanced through leadership roles including Principal Research Officer and Agriculture Specialist. He earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural Science from the University of New England in Australia, an an M.Sc. from Chiang Mai University in Thailand, and a B.Sc. from the University of Wales in the United Kingdom. With over 60 publications, Dr. Bajgai is a recognized scholar in soil science and sustainable agriculture.
K. C. Bansal
Prof. K. C. Bansal is a Plant Biotechnologist with expertise in functional genomics, genetic engineering, and genome editing aimed at developing climate-resilient and sustainable agricultural systems. He earned his Ph.D., with a Gold Medal, from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, and subsequently pursued postdoctoral research at Harvard University, Cambridge, USA (1990–1992). He later served as a Visiting Scientist at Rutgers University, USA, under the Rockefeller Career Biotechnology Fellowship (1996).
Prof. Bansal served as Director of the premier ICAR institute, the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi, from 2010 to 2016. He represented Asia as Vice-Chair during the 15th Regular Session of the United Nations Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (2013–2015). He also served as Secretary of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), India, from 2021 to 2023.
He has authored over 150 research publications in high-impact journals, including Nature Biotechnology, Nature Genetics, Nature Plants, Nature Communications, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Trends in Plant Science, and Plant Biotechnology Journal.
Prof. Bansal has received numerous prestigious awards and honours, including a national award from the Indian Science Congress conferred by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, and the Haryana Vigyan Ratna, the highest state science award.
More recently, he was elected a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) for the year 2025. To date, only eight Indian scientists have received this international distinction in the field of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems Sciences.
In addition, Prof. Bansal was conferred the prestigious Dr. B. P. Pal Memorial Lecture Award (2025) by the National Academy of Sciences, India.
MODERATORS
Sonia Balyan
Sonia is a Scientist at the Indian Biological Data Centre, Faridabad, India, where she leads the development of the Indian Crop Phenome Database, Indian Animal Phenome Database, Indian Array Data Archive, BioNode and other national-scale FAIR data resources. Her work spans biocuration, computational biology, and plant molecular biology, with contributions to understanding microRNA-mediated stress responses in crops. She is also the founder and host of the Beyond Shodh (www.youtube.com/@beyondshodh24) Podcast and serves on the Executive Committee of the International Society for Biocuration (ISB) and is also an active member of AgBiodata. Bluesky: @soniabalyan.bsky.social | X: @sonia_balyanBS.
Kavita Joshi
Kavita holds an MSc in Botany from Kumaon University, Nainital, India. Her research interests lie in ethnobotany and plant genomics, particularly in combining bioinformatics with experimental lab techniques to explore biosynthetic gene clusters and secondary metabolites with medicinal potential. On her free time, She like crafting, gardening, and be an eco-explorer.
Trevor Melusen
Trevor is currently a researcher at Plasmidsaurus, where he focuses on making Next-Generation Sequencing faster and more affordable for all researchers. He is eager to bring his experience in scaling cutting-edge sequencing tools to the plant science community, building on his previous research into plant-bacterial interactions in the rhizosphere. He believes community outreach is a necessity and is excited to connect with local communities to share knowledge. X: @trevor_melusen.
