Carl Bernacchi

Carl Bernacchi is an Adjunct Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Illinois and a Research Plant Physiologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service. His work focuses on climate change impacts on crop physiology, energy fluxes in agroecosystems, and carbon sequestration strategies. He leads research initiatives such as the SoyFACE project and contributes to the AmeriFlux network, maintaining eddy covariance flux towers in Bondville, Illinois. Dr. Bernacchi holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and specializes in understanding how atmospheric and climatic changes affect Midwest crop species, including global change scenarios and natural growth variability.

His research integrates field experiments with advanced measurement techniques, including ozone deposition analysis, miscanthus planting innovations, and solar eclipse impact studies. He collaborates on projects like agrivoltaics to improve food-energy systems and reduce land-use conflicts. Notable contributions include studies on crop canopy responses to stress, sugarcane land conversion impacts, and high-throughput phenotyping for plant traits.

Key areas of investigation include crop resilience to warming, photosynthetic efficiency under climate stress, and the carbon budgets of agroecosystems. Bernacchi’s work bridges plant physiology, ecosystem science, and applied agronomy, with a focus on scalable solutions for sustainable agriculture.