Rebecca Lybrand

Rebecca Lybrand is a pedologist and courtesy faculty member in the Department of Crop and Soil Science at Oregon State University, where she investigates how climate, topography, biology and parent material interact to shape soils and carbon storage across ecosystems ranging from Arizona deserts to Alaskan permafrost.

Education:

• Ph.D. University of Arizona
• M.S. University of California, Riverside

Research Interests:

Lybrand’s work integrates field observations, laboratory spectroscopy and nano-scale microscopy to quantify mineral weathering, carbon stabilization, and biogeochemical cycling in the critical zone. She is particularly interested in how freeze–thaw regimes, dust deposition, and microbial activity control soil evolution and carbon persistence.

Recent projects span permafrost hillslopes in Alaska, coastal temperate rainforests, and agroecosystems where she links soil properties to ground-nesting bee health. Her studies reveal that microscale interactions at the biota–rock interface set the pace for landscape-scale carbon budgets.

Scientific Awards & Honors:

• Editor’s Citation for Excellence, SSSAJ (2016)
• NSF Travel Grants for international CZO collaborations (2012, 2015)
• UA NASA Space-Grant Graduate Fellowship (2013)
• AAAS/Science Program for Excellence in Science (2012)
• Outstanding Student Paper Award, AGU Biogeosciences (2011)

Advising & Grants:

Lybrand currently mentors two Ph.D. students and has recently graduated five others. She leads or co-leads NSF-funded projects on nano-scale weathering, permafrost carbon dynamics, and lithologic controls on soil development in southeast Alaska. Her outreach portfolio includes K-12 video series, i-STEM mentoring, and citizen-science soil painting workshops.

Labs & Teams:

She is affiliated with the OSU Crop and Soil Science Pedology group and maintains active collaborations across multiple Critical Zone Observatories, the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, and international partners in Brazil, Australia and the European CZO network.