Yakun Zhang

Yakun Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Science at Oregon State University's College of Agricultural & Life Sciences. His research integrates field observations, proximal/remote sensing, and modeling to study soil-landscape relationships and critical zone processes across scales.

• Specializes in pedology, digital soil mapping, soil spectroscopy, and big data analytics
• Leads USDA-NRCS funded project for nationwide MIR spectral soil health platform
• Collaborates extensively with Dr. Gafur Gözükara, Dr. Viachesla Adamchuk, and Dr. Asim Biswas

Research focuses on:

• Data fusion of proximal and remote sensing for soil monitoring
• Spatial-temporal modeling of soil properties under climate change
• Digital pedology methods for soil profile quantification
• Nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation

Recent publications analyze soil spectroscopy applications, digital soil morphometrics, and nationwide soil monitoring systems. Awards include the Pedology Division Award (2023) and Troug Outstanding Dissertation Award (2020).

Accepts graduate students in the Soil Science Program and teaches SOIL 466/566 Soil Morphology and Classification.