I am motivated by the pressing need to identify transformative climate and conservation actions in terrestrial food systems. This includes research that can catalyze the transition from animal to plant-forward diets for realizing environmentally sustainable food systems while balancing economic and livelihood considerations.

My research uses systems-thinking to consider interactions between various components of the food system to meet global goals. I use field-based experiments and data-driven methods to understand mechanisms of soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas production on managed lands, but also ex ante modeling to identify synergies and tradeoffs that exist between climate action, biodiversity conservation, and food production under business-as-usual and alternative management. My most recent work on natural climate solutions has contributed to growing evidence of the biophysical limits of soil management actions for carbon offsetting in agriculture and potential tradeoffs with crop production, but also biodiversity conservation.

Presently, I study methane emissions associated with future ruminant animal protein demand, using numerical modeling approaches informed by global datasets produced from life-cycle methods and Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs). We are interested in developing regional pathways for methane mitigation that simultaneously integrate production efficiency improvements and technological interventions. We also aim to develop a spatially-explicit analysis of animal protein transition pathways for the United States identifying priority areas for near-term research and economic investment, and for future policy development to encourage the production of commodities necessary for more plant-rich diets.

I was recently a Postdoctoral Associate in the Soil and Crop Sciences section in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University where I led a multi-institutional project quantifying the mid-century global greenhouse gas mitigation potential and crop yield impacts of soil carbon management actions. This work built upon my doctoral research at Colorado State University where I published a highly cited meta-analysis on drivers of soil carbon sequestration under cover cropping, and conducted field research on ecosystem responses to exogenous nutrient applications to grasslands.

Highlights

McClelland, S.C., Haddix, J.D., Azad, S., Boughton, E.H., Boughton, R.K., Miller, R.S., Swain, H.M. and Dillon, J.A., 2023. Quantifying biodiversity impacts of livestock using life‐cycle perspectives. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/fee.2636

Hayek, M.N., Samuel, J. and McClelland, S.C., 2023. Methane metrics: the political stakes. Nature, 620(7972), pp.37-37.

McClelland, S.C., Cotrufo, M.F., Haddix, M.L., Paustian, K. and Schipanski, M.E., 2022. Infrequent compost applications increased plant productivity and soil organic carbon in irrigated pasture but not degraded rangeland. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 333, p.107969.

McClelland, S.C., Paustian, K. and Schipanski, M.E., 2021. Management of cover crops in temperate climates influences soil organic carbon stocks: a meta‐analysis. Ecological Applications, 31(3), p.e02278.