Teneille Nel – Researcher

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  • About

    My name is Teneille Nel and I’m a biogeochemistry postdoctoral researcher living in Merced, California. My current role is investigating soil carbon dynamics in ancient, buried soils of the Great Plains, Nebraska. I’m interested in carbon-climate feedbacks in deep soils and how erosional exposure may change these biogeochemical processes. A graduate of Stellenbosch University, South Africa, I played a key role in establishing mechanisms of organic-inorganic carbon transformations in termite-affected soils of South Africa. My work has focused on evaluating efficient methods of efficient determination of soil chemical properties by infrared spectroscopy and evaluating environmental drivers of the size and persistence of carbon stocks in semi-arid regions. My passion for biogeochemistry and soil conservation grows from the deep conviction that everything we have, has been given.

    Research platforms

    Education

    2022-2024 PhD Soil Science, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

    PhD thesis title: “Termite-affected soils in the Western Cape – a toolkit for the assessment of oxalotrophy and carbon storage potential”

    I quantified and mapped carbon in termite mounds across climates, developed a rapid method for oxalate salt measurement in various materials, compared oxalate levels in plants and termite frass across environments relative to mounds, tested a novel technique to monitor microbially induced carbonate precipitation from oxalate, and assessed land use change impacts on carbon sequestration in South African termite-affected soils..

    2024 Visiting scholar, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Germany

    During a 3-month DAAD-funded research visit, I acquired laboratory skills in CO2 extraction for radiocarbon dating and completed the SoilR course to model organic matter turnover using 14C data.

    2022 Visiting scholar, Kent State University, US

    Securing the Skye Foundation Award enabled a 3-month research visit to the US where I learned to automate soil pore gas sampling using a programmable logic controller for CO2 and O2 monitoring in incubations, automated raw gas data processing in R, and gained field technical skills in soil pore gas measurement.

    2020-2021 MSc Soil science (cum laude), Stellenbosch University, South Africa

    MSc thesis title: “Conversion of soil pH values and exchangeable cation quantities obtained by different methods”

    I modelled conversions between soil fertility measures from different techniques, conceptualized model selection guidelines based on parsimony and end-use, detected contrasting chemical extraction efficiencies due to soil-specific interactions, and evaluated IR spectroscopy as an alternative soil fertility analysis technique.

    2021 Erasmus exchange, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

    I was awarded an Erasmus scholarship for a 6-month exchange where I completed the Plant Nutrition and Tropical Soil Fertility course with distinction and, within the Soil Chemistry Division, conducted a research project comparing the precision and cost of soil cation exchange capacity quantification methods and examining the impact of procedural variations and sample matrix effects on measurement accuracy.

    2016-2019 BSc Soil science (cum laude ), Stellenbosch University, South Africa

    Majors: Soil Science (Soil Physics, Soil Chemistry, Soil & Water Management, Soil Classification, Pedology), Chemistry (Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry)

    2011-2015 National Senior Certificate (distinction), Parel Vallei High School, South Africa

    DUX (top student), IEB Advanced Programme Mathematics (distinction), Final Royal Schools musical examination (distinction)

    Experience and community involvement

    2025-present Postdoctoral researcher, University of California, Merced, US

    2021-present Volunteer church band musician, GraceLife Stellenbosch, South Africa & & Summit Church Merced, US

    2024 Soil Science Society of South Africa, Student Committee, South Africa

    2019-2024 Soil Science Society of South Africa, Social media administrator, online

    2023 Researcher AfriCarbon (Pty)Ltd, South Africa
    Optimized soil chemical analytical methodologies and increased precision of soil carbon analyses to improve standard operating procedures for soil carbon stocks evaluation

    2022-2023 Soil Science Society of America student member, online
    2020-2021 Soil Science course representative, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

    2021 Study Abroad: Global Citizenship course, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

    2020 Virtual exchange & German course, University of Tϋbingen, online

    2020 Jnr lecturer, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
    Coordinated Soil Chemistry module for final-year BSc undergraduates

    2016 – 2020 Research assistant, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
    Streamlined field and laboratory techniques of soil and plant physicochemical analyse

    2017 Academic Support Committee volunteer, Minerva Ladies’ Residence, South Africa

    Awards and Scholarships

    DAAD Short-term Research Scholarship (2024)

    DAAD-NRF Doctoral Scholarship (2023)

    Stellenbosch University Postgraduate Scholarship (2023)

    Stellenbosch University Postgraduate Office Overseas Conference Grant (2022)

    Skye Foundation Travel Grant (2022)

    Stellenbosch University Postgraduate Scholarship (2022)

    Stellenbosch University Departmental Bursaries (2020-2021)

    Erasmus International Credit Mobility Scholarship (2020)

    Elaine Forsyth Memorial Trust (2017-2019)

    Stellenbosch University Merit Awards (2016-2019)

    Nika Trust Bursary (2016)

    Soil Science Society of South Africa Student Award (2024)

    Hans Jenny Soil Field Trip Award (2022)