Indian American Soil Scientist Rattan Lal Receives 2024 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity

Soil scientist Rattan Lal has been awarded the 2024 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity for his significant contributions to global food security, climate resilience and ecosystem protection. He currently serves as Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and founding director of the Carbon Management & Sequestration Center at the Ohio State University (OSU). 

In announcing the award, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation said Lal was chosen for his “pioneering work in promoting a soil-centric approach to agriculture that has been recognized as a model for secure food systems that can be adapted worldwide,” according to a press release from OSU. His “innovative approaches have proven successful across various climates and geographies, demonstrating the benefits of sustainable agriculture to communities, economies and the planet,” the foundation added.

Much of Lal’s work has focused on “carbon sequestration in agriculture and removing atmospheric carbon for the long term, mitigating the effects of global warming and pollution,” OSU said. In 2000, he established the Ohio State carbon center, the longest-running U.S. institution with a focus on carbon sequestration in both natural and managed terrestrial ecosystems, particularly soils.

Lal pioneered a soil-centric approach that harmonizes food production with ecological preservation and climate change mitigation. His methodologies have highlighted, on a global stage, the interconnectedness of soil health and broader environmental and human well-being, and the importance of enhancing food security while conserving natural resources. He began his research career at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria, developing soil health restoration projects across Asia, Africa and Latin America. 

Lal was recently named the No. 1 scientist in the world and the United States in the field of plant sciences and agronomy by Research.com. He won the 2020 World Food Prize for developing and mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increasing food production that restores and conserves natural resources and mitigates climate change. In 2019, he won the Japan Prize, considered one of the most prestigious honors in science and technology. 

Other awards include the Glinka World Soil Prize from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Agriculture Prize from the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agricultural and Life Sciences.

See Also

Master of Gizmos: Indian American CalTech Professor Shrinivas R. Kulkarni Receives Shaw Prize in Astronomy

Lal received his B.S. from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana; M.S. from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and Ph.D. from the Ohio State University.

(Top photo: Rattan Lal, Ohio State University photo)