Peter O'Brien

Peter is the ARS co-lead to the USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub, and a scientist at the USDA ARS National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment.

As regional co-lead to the USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub, Peter O'Brien supports the Midwest and Northeast NRCS regional approaches to providing climate-informed agroforestry and healthy soil practices to regional audiences. As co-lead, Peter represents and relays the ARS mission and vision, agency priorities, perspectives, and needs to the Northern Forests Climate Hub (NFCH). Peter supports the expansion of ARS collaborations and partnerships within and outside of USDA programs and works to identify, develop, and communicate climate science efforts applicability to various audiences and programs of work within ARS.

Peter received an MS in Natural Resources Management and a Ph.D. in Soil Science from North Dakota State University. At the Agricultural Research Service's National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment in Ames, IA, Peter's research program is designed to evaluate the capacity of agricultural systems to maintain productivity while minimizing environmental impacts in response to global change. His work has a special focus on how diversified systems, including cover crops, alternative crop rotations, and agroforestry, affect how water is captured, stored, and used throughout the year.