Wiesner is an assistant professor of environmental science at UW–River Falls. Her research interests include agricultural atmospheric science and climate resiliency, land-atmosphere interactions, remote sensing, and ecosystem management. Wiesner’s position is funded by the Dairy Innovation Hub.
In spite of the popular perception that larger dairy farms cause greater environmental damages than smaller operations, there is limited scientific literature on the effect of farm size on distinct environmental concerns and in particular green house gas (GHG) emissions. This project intends to improve the monitoring and verification of GHG emissions at the Mann Valley Farm at UW–River Falls as a case study from a small–medium farm. The goal of this project is to optimize measurement strategies for GHG accounting within fields and barns, and to compare measurements with modeled values following IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) GHG guidelines. Furthermore, the project aim to establish a GHG baseline for Mann Valley Farm which can be used to assess impacts from future management and/or cropping changes. The results of this research will also serve to assess the degree of climate resiliency of Mann Valley Farm to future weather extremes, which can help ensure its environmental and economic sustainability.
Publication in JGR Biogeosciences – September 2022