About Alison Eagle

Alison Eagle

Senior Scientist, Climate-Smart Agriculture

Contact

Raleigh, North Carolina Office

Work

Areas of expertise:

Nutrient cycling, crop production, soil science, ecosystem services, agricultural sustainability, climate change, land use, and natural resource economics.

Alison provides scientific expertise to the agriculture team’s efforts to eliminate nutrient pollution from productive agriculture. Her research includes synthesis and meta-analysis of field experimental data in nutrient cycling, with a focus on nitrogen. She works closely with other scientists to better understand how farm management practices can reduce nutrient losses and maintain productivity while also improving water, air, and soil quality. She provides technical expertise to move these efforts from theory and research farms to application in environmental markets and supply chain sustainability commitments.

Background

Prior to joining EDF, Alison worked as a research associate for the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University. At the intersection of agronomic sciences and economics, she began synthesizing and modeling the environmental impacts of improved agricultural management for application in policy or private markets. Alison was raised on a farm in Alberta, Canada, where she gained an early interest in agriculture, “learning to do by doing” (4H). In the search for a good dataset, she has collected soil, plant, and other samples in rice fields and on dairy farms; conducted lab tests; surveyed farmers; and scoured the literature for experimental results.

Alison is a member of the American Society of Agronomy, the Soil Science Society of America, and the American Geophysical Union.

Alison received her PhD from Wageningen University in 2009 (Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy), for which her research focused on agricultural land use and externalities. She holds a MS degree (International Agricultural Development, Soil Science) from the University of California-Davis, and a BSc degree (Agricultural Sciences) from the University of Alberta. 

Education 

  • PhD, Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy, Wageningen University, 2009
  • MS, International Agricultural Development (Soil Science), University of California, Davis, 2000
  • BSc, Agriculture (with distinction), University of Alberta, 1997

Publications

38. Palmero, F., E.A. Davidson, K. Guan, A.J. Eagle, H.E. Birge, C.J. Ransom, P.V.V. Prasad, T. Hefley, J.R. Schussler, and I.A. Ciampitti. 2025. Environmental and societal costs of maize production decrease by addressing the uncertainty in nitrogen rate recommendations. Nature Food. In press.

37. Mandrini, G., E.A. Davidson, E.D. Nafziger, A.J. Eagle, C.M. Pittelkow, L.F. Gentry, G.D. Schnitkey, K. Guan, N.F. Martin, Z.L. Chen, K. Alles and I.A. Ciampitti. 2025. A market-based insurance approach aligns environmental and economic outcomes in maize nitrogen management. Communications Earth & Environment. 7:art.26. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-03008-3

36. Vidal Morant, M., A.J. Eagle, G. van de Ven, J.M. Lavallee, J. Zahra, A. de Wit and R. Hijbeek. 2025. Carbon farming in Europe, policies of symbolic reassurance. Outlook on Agriculture. 54(4):336–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270251395647

35. Raffeld, A.M., E.E. Oldfield, A.J. Eagle, C. Melikov and D.R. Gordon. 2025. Exploring rates and timing of new agricultural practices with the ADOPT tool. Agricultural & Environment Letters. 10(2):e70038. https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.70038

34. Oldfield, E.E., J.M. Lavallee, J. Blesh, M.A. Bradford, M. Cameron-Harp, M.F. Cotrufo, A.J. Eagle, L. Eash, R.J. Even, S. Kuebbing, E.A. Kort, T.J. Lark, C. Latka, Y. Lin, M.B. Machmuller, B. O’Neill, A.M. Raffeld, T. Roy Chowdhury, J. Rudek, J. Sanderman, C.D. Sprunger, N. Uludere Aragon, M. Vidal, D. Woolf, T.J. Zelikova and D.R. Gordon. 2024. Greenhouse gas mitigation on croplands: Clarifying the debate on knowns, unknowns and risks to move forward with effective management interventions. Carbon Management. 15(1):art.2365896. https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2024.2365896

33. Uludere Aragon, N., Y. Xie, D. Bigelow, T.J. Lark and A.J. Eagle. 2024. The realistic potential of soil carbon sequestration in U.S. croplands for climate mitigation. Earth’s Future. 12(6):e2023EF003866. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EF003866

32. Buma, B., D.R. Gordon, K.M. Kleisner, A. Bartuska, A. Bidlack, R. DeFries, P. Ellis, P. Friedlingstein, S. Metzger, G. Morgan, K. Novick, J. Sanchirico, J.R. Collins, A.J. Eagle, R. Fujita, E. Holst, J.M. Lavallee, R.N. Lubowski, C. Melikov, L.A. Moore, E.E. Oldfield, J. Paltseva, A.M. Raffeld, N.A. Randazzo, C. Schneider, N. Uludere Aragon and S. P. Hamburg. 2024. Expert review of the science underlying nature-based climate solutions. Nature Climate Change 14:402–6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-01960-0

31. Tamagno, S., A.J. Eagle, E.L. McLellan, C. van Kessel, B.A. Linquist, J.K. Ladha, M.E. Lundy and C.M. Pittelkow. 2022. Predicting nitrate leaching loss in temperate rainfed cereal crops: Relative importance of management and environmental drivers. Environmental Research Letters 17(6):art.064043. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac70ee

30. Oldfield, E.E., A.J. Eagle, R.L. Rubin, J. Rudek, J. Sanderman and D.R. Gordon. 2022. Crediting agricultural soil carbon sequestration: Regional consistency is necessary for carbon credit integrity. Science 375(6586):1222–5. https://doi.org/doi:10.1126/science.abl7991

29. Tamagno, S., A.J. Eagle, E.L. McLellan, C. van Kessel, B.A. Linquist, J.K. Ladha and C.M. Pittelkow. 2022. Quantifying N leaching losses as a function of N balance: A path to sustainable food supply chains. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 324:art.107714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2021.107714

28. Suttles, K.M., A.J. Eagle and E.L. McLellan. 2021. Upstream solutions to downstream problems: Investing in rural natural infrastructure for water quality improvement and flood risk mitigation. Water 13(24):art.3579. https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/24/3579

27. Tenorio, F.A.M., E.L. McLellan, A.J. Eagle, K.G. Cassman, J.A. Torrion and P. Grassini. 2021. Disentangling management factors influencing nitrogen balance in producer fields in the western Corn Belt. Agricultural Systems 193:art.103245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103245

26. Udvardi, M., F.E. Below, M.J. Castellano, A.J. Eagle, K.E. Giller, J.K. Ladha, X. Liu, T.M. Maaz, B. Nova-Franco, N. Raghuram, G.P. Robertson, M. Saha, S. Roy, S. Schmidt, M. Tegeder, L.M. York and J.W. Peters. 2021. A research road map for responsible use of agricultural nitrogen. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 5(165):art.660155. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.660155

25. Maaz, T.M., T.B. Sapkota, A.J. Eagle, M.B. Kantar, T.W. Bruulsema and K. Majumdar. 2021. Metaanalysis of yield and nitrous oxide outcomes for nitrogen management in agriculture. Global Change Biology 27(11):2343–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15588

24. Tenorio, F.A.M., E.L. McLellan, A.J. Eagle, K.G. Cassman, M. Krausnick, J. Thorburn and P. Grassini. 2021. Luck versus skill: Is nitrogen balance in irrigated maize fields driven by persistent or random factors? Environmental Science & Technology 55(1):749–56. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c05655

23. Eagle, A.J., E.L. McLellan, E.M. Brawner, M.H. Chantigny, E.A. Davidson, J.B. Dickey, B.A. Linquist, T.M. Maaz, D.E. Pelster, C.M. Pittelkow, C. van Kessel, T.J. Vyn and K.G. Cassman. 2020. Quantifying onfarm nitrous oxide emission reductions in food supply chains. Earth’s Future 8(10):e2020EF001504. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EF001504

22. Tenorio, F.A.M., E.L. McLellan, A.J. Eagle, K.G. Cassman, D. Anderson, M. Krausnick, R, Oaklund, J. Thorburn and P. Grassini. 2020. Benchmarking impact of nitrogen inputs on grain yield and environmental performance of producer fields in the western US Corn Belt. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 294:art.106865. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.106865

21. Tenorio, F.A.M., A.J. Eagle, E.L. McLellan, K.G. Cassman, R. Howard, F.E. Below, D.E. Clay, J.A. Coulter, A.B. Geyer, D.K. Joos, J.G. Lauer, M.A. Licht, A.J. Lindsey, B. Maharjan, C.M. Pittelkow, P.R. Thomison, C.S. Wortmann, V.O. Sadras and P. Grassini. 2019. Assessing variation in maize grain nitrogen concentration and its implications for estimating nitrogen balance in the US North Central region. Field Crops Research 240:185–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2018.10.017

20. Brouder, S.M., A.J. Eagle, N.K. Fukagawa, J. McNamara, S. Murray, C. Parr and N. Tremblay. 2019. Enabling Open-source Data Networks in Public Agricultural Research. CAST Commentary QTA2019-1. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST), Ames, IA. 20 pp. https://www.castscience.org/publication/enabling-open-source-data-networks-in-public-agricultural-research/

19. McLellan, E.L., K.G. Cassman, A.J. Eagle, P.B. Woodbury, S. Sela, C. Tonitto, R.D. Marjerison and H.M. van Es. 2018. The nitrogen balancing act: Tracking the environmental performance of food production. BioScience 68(3):194–203. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix164

18. Eagle, A.J., L.P. Olander, K.L. Locklier, J.B. Heffernan and E.S. Bernhardt. 2017. Fertilizer management and environmental factors drive N2O and NO3 losses in corn: A meta-analysis. Soil Science Society of America Journal 81(5):1191–202. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2016.09.0281

17. Eagle, A.J., L.E. Christianson, R.L. Cook, R.D. Harmel, F.E. Miguez, S.S. Qian and D.A. Ruiz Diaz. 2017. Meta-analysis constrained by data: Recommendations to improve relevance of nutrient management research. Agronomy Journal 109(6):2441–2449. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2017.04.0215

16. Chaves, M. and A.J. Eagle. 2016. Congregations and social services: An update from the third wave of the National Congregations Study. Religions 7(5):art.55. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7050055

15. Eagle, A.J., J. Rude and P.C. Boxall. 2016. Agricultural support policy in Canada: What are the environmental consequences? Environmental Reviews 24(1):13–24. https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2015-0050

14. Eagle, A.J., D.E. Eagle, T.E. Stobbe and G.C. van Kooten. 2015. Farmland protection and agricultural land values at the urban-rural fringe: British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 97(1):282–98. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aau098

13. Eagle, A.J. and L.P. Olander. 2012. Greenhouse gas mitigation with agricultural land management activities in the United States – A side-by-side comparison of biophysical potential. Advances in Agronomy 115:79–179.

12. Stobbe, T.E., A.J. Eagle, G. Cotteleer and G.C. van Kooten. 2011. Farmland preservation verdicts – Rezoning agricultural land in British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics 59:555–72.

11. Stobbe, T.E., A.J. Eagle and G.C. van Kooten. 2010. Niche and direct marketing in the rural-urban fringe: A study of the agricultural economy in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. BC Studies 167:105–34.

10. Eagle, A.J., M.E. Eiswerth, W.S. Johnson, S.E. Schoenig and G.C. van Kooten. 2007. Costs and losses imposed on California ranchers by yellow starthistle. Rangeland Ecology and Management 60:369–77.

9. van Kooten, G.C., A.J. Eagle and M.E. Eiswerth, 2007. Determinants of threatened sage grouse in northeastern Nevada. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 12(1):53–70.

8. van Kooten, G.C., R. Thomsen, T.G. Hobby and A.J. Eagle, 2006. Social dilemmas and range management in Nevada. Ecological Economics. 57(4):709–23.

7. van Kooten, G.C. and A.J. Eagle, 2005. Forest carbon sinks: A temporary and costly alternative to reducing emissions for climate change mitigation. Chapter 11 in Institutions, Sustainability, and Natural Resources: Institutions for Sustainable Forest Management, Vol. 2. (pp. 233–55). Edited by S. Kant and R.A. Berry. Amsterdam: Kluwer.

6. van Kooten, G.C., A.J. Eagle, J. Manley and T.M. Smolak. 2004. How costly are carbon offsets? A meta-analysis of carbon forest sinks. Environmental Science & Policy. 7(4):239–51.

5. Schwankl, L.J., A.J. Eagle, C.A. Frate and B. Nydam. 2003. Flow meters tested on dairy lagoon water. California Agriculture. Jul–Sept:93–96.

4. Bird, J.A., A.J. Eagle, W.R. Horwath, M.W. Hair, E.E. Zilbert and C. van Kessel. 2002. Long-term studies find benefits, challenges in alternative rice straw management. California Agriculture. Mar/Apr:69–75.

3. Eagle, A.J., J.A. Bird, J.E. Hill, W.R. Horwath and C. van Kessel. 2001. Nitrogen dynamics and fertilizer N use efficiency in rice following straw incorporation and winter flooding. Agronomy Journal. 93(6):1346–54.

2. Bird, J.A., W.R. Horwath, A.J. Eagle and C. van Kessel. 2001. Immobilization of fertilizer nitrogen in rice: Effects of straw management practices. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 65(4):1143–52.

1. Eagle, A.J., J.A. Bird, W.R. Horwath, B.A. Linquist, S.M. Brouder, J.E. Hill and C. van Kessel. 2000. Rice yield and nitrogen utilization efficiency under alternative straw management practices. Agronomy Journal. 92(6):1096–103.