Nitrogen Summer Institute 2025: Video Highlights
June 25 - 27, 2025. Washington, D.C.
About the Institute
The second annual NICCEE Nitrogen Summer Institute brought together more than 55 researchers, students and stakeholders. Participants gathered at the AGU Conference Center in Washington, D.C., for an intensive, interdisciplinary program focused on nitrogen innovation and collaboration in light of recent advancements in renewable nitrogen technologies and green ammonia (i.e., produced using renewable energy and precursors).
The Institute kicked off with a field trip to two agricultural field sites. Participants visited an agricultural catchment and research farm to learn about runoff and nutrient losses on a guided tour led by Gurpal Toor from the University of Maryland. Back in Washington, D.C., the main conference program featured speaker sessions on renewable nitrogen technologies in agriculture, emerging market and policy challenges, and advances in nitrogen modeling and experimental data collection. A highlight of the program was the Catalyst Lab, developed and led by students from NICCEE’s cross-institutional graduate course. This interactive session aimed to bridge the gap between scientists and farmers through effective science communication.
Opening remarks and plenary speakers
Video highlights from the Institute opening and plenary remarks.
NICCEE director and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Professor Xin Zhang opens the Nitrogen Summer Institute with a brief introduction to NICCEE’s mission and community. At 4:41, UMCES President Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm welcomes participants and challenges attendees to raise awareness about nitrogen’s critical role in environmental systems.
The ‘too much, yet too little’ paradox of nitrogen is one of the defining environmental challenges of our time… Our goal is really to accelerate the social, economic, and technological innovations for the sustainable nitrogen management. – Xin Zhang
National Science Foundation (NSF) Program Director B. Jan Middendorf also shares opening remarks highlighting the importance of transdisciplinary collaboration and data sharing in addressing global nitrogen challenges (not shown).
Global problems can’t be done individually… it takes multidisciplinary and international partners. Global centers continue to be a high priority within the National Science Foundation. – B. Jan Middendorf
NICCEE director and USA-lead Xin Zhang provides an overview of NICCEE and its activities, followed by UK-lead Adie Collins at 3:30 and Canada-lead Claudia Wagner-Riddle at 9:00.
Panel Session 1: Renewable Nitrogen Technologies in Agriculture: From Innovation to On-Farm Application
This session explored the challenges and opportunities associated with renewable nitrogen technologies in real-world agricultural systems. Speakers discussed the technical feasibility of on-farm deployment, innovations in renewable-based nitrogen production technologies, and how current products align with actual farm needs and existing infrastructure. The goal of this session was to uncover practical pathways from renewable-based nitrogen production to effective, scalable on-farm use.
Moderator: Eric Davidson
Panelists: Nianqiang (Nick) Wu, Mario Tenuta [pre-recorded], Yujing Gao, Mike Castellano, Eric Rosenbaum, Chun Dai
BREAKOUT SUMMARY
What are the practical challenges to adopting renewable-based nitrogen at scale? Where do promising solutions already exist? What are the biggest unknowns?
Challenges: High capital costs for for production. Limited renewable energy access. Need for improvements in battery storage. Existing fertilizer infrastructure. Resistance to change among farmers due to cost, trust, and lack of place-specific evidence. National security concerns. Safety concerns. Fragmented outreach and advisory networks. Data gaps on product performance, emissions, and supply chain logistics
Promising Solutions: Technological innovation, such as alternative catalysts and new ammonia synthesis pathways. Co-development of research with farmers and trusted advisors. Targeted outreach. Demonstration projects to build public confidence. Cost-sharing programs, grants, policy incentives and tax credits. Improved field testing protocols and sensor technologies. Use of inhibitors to improve nutrient use efficiency. Life Cycle Assessments.
Unknowns: Real-world effectiveness and return on investment. Carbon footprints and energy efficiency of emerging technologies. Location-dependent transport and supply chain costs. Long-term agronomic and economic impacts on farms.
What is the role of field testing in informing more effective renewable-based nitrogen management? What makes a field trial scientifically rigorous and practically valuable for producers and other supply chain actors?
Role of Field Testing: Validates effectiveness, efficiency, and emissions outcomes in real-world conditions. Trust-building and thought-sharing through collaboration with farmers and advisers. Informs predictive models. Provide evidence and framework for evaluation.
Scientific Rigor & Practical Value: Replicable. Use of local controls, sensor-based measurements, and contextual details (e.g., soil conditions, weather, elevation). Open, shareable data and standardized protocols. Trials designed to reflect farmer realities, with clear, relevant outcomes. Build connections with local stakeholders. Stronger impact when trials are co-developed with trusted agricultural networks.
Gaps: Need for improvements in sensor technology. Opportunities for collaborative frameworks. Cost barriers to farmer participation in field trials. Strategic identification of goals and questions that align for both researchers and farmers.
Panel Session 2: Policy Progress and Market Challenges
This session examined the evolving policy landscape surrounding renewable-based nitrogen products. Discussions and presentations spanned the recent NICCEE Nitrogen Governance Workshop, key regulatory, socioeconomic and environmental concerns, and the roles of industry and philanthropy. The goal of this session was to foster collaboration and strengthen public and private partnerships, identifying potential frameworks to support climate-smart nitrogen management and sustainable transitions.
Moderator: William San Martin
Panelists: David Kanter, Anikka Fife, John Foye, Ian Clifford [virtual], Christopher Clark
BREAKOUT SUMMARY
What economic incentives (e.g., subsidies, carbon pricing, risk-sharing) and policy instruments are most promising to enable adoption at scale? What economic and structural changes would be needed to support the transition?
Challenges: High costs for green ammonia production; limited access to renewable energy. Lack of emissions and fertilizer usage data at the farm level. Variability in policy support across political administrations.
Economic Incentives: Tax incentives or reductions for renewable nitrogen technologies. U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and European carbon markets as models for subsidies and carbon pricing. Risk-sharing and cost-sharing mechanisms to lower barriers for adoption. Non-punitive government support.
Economic & Structural Changes: Reliable, long-term access to affordable renewable energy. Creation of stable, bipartisan policies. Decentralized production models and co-op based distribution. Engagement with rural utilities and farmer cooperatives.
Where are policy blind spots when it comes to environmental impacts and equity concerns with renewable-based nitrogen fertilizers? What kinds of governance strategies and inclusive policy tools could promote smaller scale green ammonia adoption?
Policy Blind Spots: Farm-level emissions data are sparse, often withheld due to confidentiality. Inhibitor use, soil conditions, and management practices not adequately reflected in current models. Difficulty in applying one-size-fits-all subsidies; risk of favoring large operations over smallholders. Overlooking co-benefits such as energy independence or farmer wellbeing in current policy narratives. Need for cost-benefit assessments.
Governance Strategies & Policy Tools: Engagement of trusted, certified crop advisors and farmer cooperatives. Targeted outreach to small-scale farms and tailoring policies to diverse farm systems. Transparent communications; policies co-developed with farmers. Community demonstration projects. International coordination, including with emerging markets like Brazil and Oman.
What role could NICCEE play in the future of policy on renewable-based nitrogen? What roles should other actors play?
NICCEE: Translate research and input from farmers into policy-relevant insights (e.g., white papers, briefs). Build and summarize areas of consensus and disagreement across stakeholder perspectives. Identify knowledge gaps. Engage policymakers and lobbyists with people-centered narratives, not just technical data. Help define metrics for environmental, economic, and equity outcomes. Provide evidence on green ammonia co-benefits (e.g., fertilizer security, decentralization). Serve as a trusted, open-access data repository and boundary-spanning organization. Act as a convener for workshops, forums, and international collaboration.
Government: Identify and signal preferred policy mechanisms (taxes, grants, regulations). Provide technical and financial support. Enable innovation through infrastructure and regulatory clarity.
Industry: Share product performance data. Support field testing and safety research; test products transparently. Build awareness; educate users on operations and safety. Transparency in “how green” their ammonia products are.
Researchers: Co-create knowledge with farmers, communities and other stakeholders. Improve public science communication. Integrate policy changes into ecological models.
What opportunities can NICCEE pursue to strengthen partnerships with the private sector? What can NICCEE offer to startups and corporate companies working on renewable-based nitrogen fertilizer?
Provide product testing, input analysis, and cost-benefit evaluations. Offer case studies, handouts, feedback loops, and forums to share knowledge. Facilitate dialogue between researchers, policymakers, and the private sector. Build relationships through conferences, workshops, and joint demonstration projects. Collaborate with policymakers and other stakeholders to develop to incentives (e.g., scholarships or recognition) for private sector engagement.
Day 2 Opening Remarks
Video highlights from the Day 2 Opening Remarks.
Lead of the NICCEE Global Advisory Board and Associate Professor with CEIGRAM-ETSIAAB-Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Luis Lassaletta opens Day 2 (Friday June 27) of the Nitrogen Summer Institute with a reflection on the event so far.
Panel Session 3: Measuring & Modeling Nitrogen
This session discusses current progress, ongoing challenges and gaps measuring and modeling nitrogen flows across scales—ranging from global assessments to field-level trial data. The goal of this session is to improve the links between measurement, modeling, and actionable insights for stakeholders to enable more efficient nitrogen usage.
Moderator: Xin Zhang
Panelists: Jillian Sturtevant, Yusheng Zhang, Asma Jebari, Kate Congreves [virtual], Yafei Guo
BREAKOUT SUMMARY
What tools or information developed at NICCEE could be useful for stakeholders in the private sector? What about policymakers at regional, national, or international levels?
Stakeholders: Attend farm shows and engage with the Farmer’s Union; engage during Farm Bill development. Interface with a farmer database to improve engagement and personalization. Create communication products tailored to private sector farms and various stakeholders (e.g., infographics, simplified visuals, low-text fact sheets). Develop a clear definition of green ammonia and communicate its co-benefits. Encourage sector-specific actors to disseminate NICCEE findings within their networks.
Policymakers: Meet with local congress members to advocate for relevant policies. Present NICCEE’s work at major international forums like the UN’s COP (Conference of Parties). Emphasize decentralized production and policy briefings that promote farmer independence.
How can we enable and sustain data collection, modeling, and other activities in a tight funding environment?
Make data associated with research publications available for open-access; promote metadata standardization. Encourage farmer participation through trusted relationships and simplified data-sharing platforms (e.g., N management, or N fertilizer sources). Learn from regional models and data collection systems (e.g., Ontario’s soil data system, Fertilizer Canada surveys) that rely on farmer consent and collaboration. Build international partnerships; leverage foundations to diversify funding streams.
What are the most important measurement gaps for understanding renewable N impacts? What are the next steps to address these gaps?
Measurement Gaps: Inconsistent or non-harmonized NUE (nitrogen use efficiency) measurements. Limited data on emissions from different fertilizer types, including anhydrous ammonia. Limited compound and multi-factor assessments (e.g., integrating pH, phosphorus, etc. into measurement and modeling protocols). Weak baseline data for comparing traditional vs. renewable nitrogen practices.
Next Steps: Deepen collaboration with farmers and the private sector to co-develop relevant metrics. Determine farmer attitudes and the supply of on-farm fertilizer units. Co-develop economic indicators tied to real-world field data. Shift away from modeling-only approaches and thought experiments toward empirical, on-farm testing. Deploy sensors on green ammonia units to track emissions and performance; compound measurements that combine multiple indicators. Explore industry partnerships for unit-based monitoring pilots.
How can NICCEE’s data and models be made more accessible to the general public and relevant stakeholders? How do uncertainties in measurement influence the confidence we have in model outputs and affect stakeholder decisions?
Improving Accessibility: Create a public-facing NICCEE data bank with clear data use/citation policies. Host open-source model platforms where users can upload/update performance data. Develop community-based platforms for feedback among researchers, modelers, and users. Develop case studies, spatial GIS tools, and field site connections.
Uncertainties in Measurement: Report uncertainty using ranges or variability bands instead of single values. Validate methods before disseminating experimental results. Address technical issues (e.g., sensor accuracy, instrument calibration). Account for natural conditions (e.g., soil, climate, site-specific conditions). Improve spatial resolution for tracking N leakage/emissions.
Plenary Discussion
Video highlights from the introduction to the Plenary Discussion.
NICCEE director and USA-lead Xin Zhang shares a brief introduction to the Plenary Discussion, exploring the role of NICCEE in green ammonia and renewable-based nitrogen innovation within broader agriculture-food-energy systems.
NICCEE Leadership:
Xin Zhang, NICCEE Director; Professor, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Claudia Wagner-Riddle, NICCEE Canada-Lead; Professor, University of Guelph
Adrian Collins, NICCEE UK-Lead; Science Director, Rothamsted Research
Meeting Organization:
Sarah Garvey, NICCEE Program Manager; Assistant Research Scientist, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science