Lars Stoumann Jensen

Lars Stoumann Jensen is a Professor of Soil Fertility and Organic Waste Recycling at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen. He currently serves as Head of the Plant and Soil Section of PLEN and has held academic positions since 1995, progressing from Research Fellow to full Professor.

His research focuses on soil biogeochemistry, particularly soil C, N and P turnover following the recycling of organic materials such as crop residues, manures, and biowaste as biobased fertilizers. His work encompasses nutrient utilization, fertilizer value, gaseous and aquatic emissions from land application of recycled products, and mechanistic modeling of these processes for environmental impact assessment.

Professor Jensen's recent publications (2025) demonstrate a strong interdisciplinary approach integrating soil science, environmental chemistry, and agricultural systems modeling. His research consistently addresses critical sustainability challenges in agriculture, with particular emphasis on circular economy principles, greenhouse gas mitigation, soil carbon sequestration, and nutrient management optimization.

Scientific Awards:

• Award from Ulrik and Marie Brinch's Foundation for creating a new research field (2015)

Professor Jensen has supervised 37 PhD students (4 currently as main supervisor), 15 postdocs, and over 75 BSc & MSc thesis students. He has been involved in over 60 research projects (26 as project leader), including two large EU Marie S. Curie ITN projects (www.reusewaste.eu and www.ferticycle.ku.dk) that have trained over 25 PhDs. His recent grants include 'CatCap – Catch Crops for Carbon Capture' (2019-2024), 'LEX4BIO' (2019-2023), and 'FertiCycle' (2020-2023), totaling over 65 million DKK.

He has served as chairperson of the EU Nitrogen Expert Panel (2018-2021) and is actively engaged in translating research into policy and practice through media contributions and public engagement on critical issues like phosphorus scarcity, waste recycling, and sustainable nutrient management.