Nitrogen Summer Institute 2026: Video Highlights
June 15 - 17, 2026. Guelph, Ontario
About the Institute
The 2026 Nitrogen Summer Institute was held as part of NICCEE’s annual Summer Event Series in Guelph, Ontario. The event brought together a vibrant international community working across science, policy, industry, and agriculture to advance sustainable nitrogen management systems.
Now in its third year, the Nitrogen Summer Institute continues to serve as a unique forum where cutting-edge research meets real-world application, linking technical innovation, governance, and on-farm practice across North America and beyond.
Over three days from June 15 – 17, 2026, more than 70 participants from around the world participated in field-based learning, expert presentation sessions, and collaborative discussions focused on the future of nitrogen in agri-food-energy systems.
The Institute began with a field excursion to Sollio Agriculture at Hamilton Port, Campden Grains, and the Living Lab site at Harrcroft Acres. The following two days featured sessions exploring the changing landscape of nitrogen management across science, technology, and governance. Key themes included:
- Nitrogen management in agriculture in Canada, the US, and the UK.
- Technical adoption pathways for green ammonia in agriculture
- Governance and deployment frameworks for green ammonia in North America
- “N-Solutions Explorer” development activity, connecting science and nitrogen management interventions
As part of the NICCEE Summer Event Series, the Nitrogen Summer Institute was followed by the Canadian Green Ammonia Governance Workshop on June 18, 2026. Experts from across sectors and disciplines continued in-depth conversations on policy frameworks and market development pathways.
Opening remarks and plenary speakers
Video highlights from the Institute opening and plenary remarks.
NICCEE director Dr. Xin Zhang welcomes attendees to the 2026 Nitrogen Summer Institute and introduces Jessica Bowes from the University of Guelph. At 6:03, NICCEE Canada-Lead Dr. Claudia Wagner-Riddle provides a brief introduction to NICCEE and its mission.
Keynote remarks shared by Anne-Marie Chapman, Director Research, Development and Technology for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Introduction by Claudia Wagner-Riddle.
Keynote remarks shared by Cassandra Loomans, Vice President of Sylvite. Introduction by Claudia Wagner-Riddle.
Session 1 | Nitrogen Management in Agriculture in the US, Canada and UK
In this opening panel session, the NICCEE leadership team discussed nitrogen management in agriculture and green ammonia in NICCEE’s three deep-dive countries, the US, Canada and the UK. Panelists reflected on agricultural practices, environmental impacts, policy contexts, and opportunities/barriers for green ammonia adoption.
Featured speakers:
Claudia Wagner-Riddle (NICCEE Canada-Lead; Professor, University of Guelph)
Adrian Collins (NICCEE UK-Lead; Science Director, Rothamsted Research)
Xin Zhang (NICCEE Director; Professor, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science)
Moderator:
Luis Lassaletta (NICCEE Global Advisory Board Lead; Associate Professor, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid)
BREAKOUT SUMMARY
Given what you just heard, what are the critical next steps for your core function team?
What opportunities are there for co-development between the UK, US and Canada?
Information Hub
Key Gaps
- Scale mismatch & boundary uncertainties: integrating nutrient balances across field, regional, national and global scales—both spatial and temporal—creates analytical uncertainty.
- Data gaps & sharing hurdles: Gaps in farm management data, unreliable surveys, and poorly captured Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF). Data sharing restricted by journal paywalls. Challenges to translate data into meaningful policy implementation.
- Climate and environment variation: climate change impacts on precipitation and drought make it difficult to produce consistent, reliable budgets.
Moving Forward
- Scale optimization: define and align working scales before modeling begins
- Collaborative connection: build stronger connections between data collection and modeling communities
- Central data hub: formalize the Information Hub to foster data and model sharing. Standardize nitrogen flow models (e.g., the CAFE framework), coordinate regional fertilizer use data, and share N2O flux measurements
- External collaboration: engage with external networks, such as Colorado’s Ecosystem Modeling and Data Consortium (EMDC)
Innovation Platform
Key Gaps
- Barriers to green ammonia adoption: high upfront CAPEX, distribution logistics, and storage constraints. Feasibility questions, including energy requirements and ideal climate conditions.
- Socioeconomic & behavioral gaps: insufficient understanding of farmer incentives and a lack of standardized frameworks to evaluate on-farm innovation.
- Flawed inventories & policies: policies are frequently designed top-down without agricultural stakeholder input. Many inventories measure emissions per land area instead of per food unit. Need for improved emission factors and estimates of NUE.
Moving Forward
- Value-Chain Alignment: link sustainability metrics directly to farmer profitability, and explore discounted grid rates with utilities to use excess renewable energy.
- Policy & protocol mapping: compile regional policy summaries, compare cross-country MMRV protocols.
- Emerging question: what kinds of opportunities are there to use curtailed renewable energy to produce green ammonia?
Education Program
Key Gaps
- Cross-country connection: key opportunity for continued investment and improvement.
- Regional funding disparities: graduate students participating in NICCEE come from various institutions, and not all receive the same level of financial support.
Moving Forward
- Iterative programming design: structuring the core graduate course so that it builds iteratively on itself year-over-year.
- International mentorship: cross-country student internships, postdoc mentorship programs, and career development panels.
- Collaborative student forums: organize regular virtual student meetings to foster connection.
Session 2 | Green Ammonia for Farmers: Technical Adoption Roadmap
This session investigated what it would take to jumpstart distributed green ammonia in agriculture. Speakers and group discussion explored technical, experimental, and financial pathways for smallholders in an effort to develop a practical technical adoption roadmap connecting production technologies, conversion pathways, and on-farm application needs. Regional foci included Canada/US, India, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Mexico/Latin America, and the UK.
Featured speakers:
Mario Tenuta (Senior Industrial Research Chair in 4R Nutrient Management and Professor, University of Manitoba)
Smriti Kala (Senior Scientist, International Fertilizer Development Center) [virtual]
Noha El-Ghobashy (Co-CEO, Institute for Transformative Technologies)
Samuel Njoroge (Scientist, African Plant Nutrition Institute)
Tek Bahadur Sapkota (Principal Scientist, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center / CIMMYT)
Laura Cardenas (Principal Research Scientist, Rothamsted Research)
Moderator:
Eric Davidson (Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science)
BREAKOUT SUMMARY
Technological gaps & making new connections:
What are the technical pathways to connect production technologies and opportunities for green ammonia use/adoption?
Challenges: Cost – electrolysis is a major cost driver for green ammonia. Energy needs and storage – systems are most efficient when run continuously. Safety considerations. Water availability.
Technical pathways: Possibility to leverage curtailed energy for green ammonia production? Hydrogen storage as a potential intermittent energy storage medium. Geological hydrogen. Consider novel fertilizer application methods that could improve NUE or reduce waste. Consider making urea from green ammonia using bio-based CO2 sourced from anaerobic digestion facilities.
Leveraging existing connections and technologies:
Consider green ammonia adoption feasibility, related gaps, and emerging questions in the following regions:
India
Emerging questions: What types of fertilizer products would be best for targeted subsidy? What green ammonia products are suited for fertigation application?
Challenges: farmer awareness of green ammonia. Possible opportunities for community programs, government subsidies, NGO seed grants, etc.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Emerging questions: What kinds of granular fertilizers can be produced from green ammonia?
Challenges: Price, affected by the role of exchange rates, transportation/energy costs, and market risks. Cultural legacies and burial grounds can make it challenging to consolidate land into continuous farmed areas. Water needs for green ammonia production in areas of water scarcity.
Mexico / Latin America
Emerging questions: What green ammonia fertilizer products could be produced on small scale and can be spread by hand? What is the role of socioeconomic drivers in a farmer’s fertilizer choices?
US / Canada
Emerging questions: What is the role of government subsidies to accelerate adoption and facilitate on-farm testing? Should emissions accounting address total emissions or emissions intensity?
Challenges: Rigorous end testing is needed before green ammonia adoption. Need for better measurement and monitoring technologies.
UK / Europe
Emerging questions: How could future investment in green energy support green ammonia production?
Challenges: Blue ammonia increasingly popular and competitor for green ammonia; related infrastructure lock-in. Lack of awareness of green ammonia among farmers. High costs and infrastructure needs for green ammonia production.
Day 2 Opener
Video highlights from the Day 2 Opening Remarks on Wed Jun 17, 2026.
Featured speakers:
Graham MacDonald (Associate Professor, McGill University)
Session 3 | Governance & Deployment Pathways for Green Ammonia in North America (part 1)
This session explored future scenarios for green ammonia adoption and identify governance pathways from a scientific perspective. Part one of a two-part discussion continued at the Canadian Green Ammonia Governance Workshop the following day.
Featured speakers:
David Kanter (Associate Professor, New York University)
Valentina Roel (Postdoctoral Researcher, New York University) [virtual]
Josh McBee
BREAKOUT SUMMARY
What policy instruments and mixes might underpin more ambitious green ammonia scenarios?
What methods are best suited to assessing environmental and socioeconomic impacts?
What stakeholder voices are missing from the room and what insight could they bring?
Click image to enlarge.
Policy opportunities: Possibilities to leverage existing policy frameworks, like carbon markets and emission reduction targets. Emphasis on directive-based policies. Subsidies for green ammonia infrastructure and cooperative production; cost-share. Robust regulations needed for system safety, product quality, transport, storage. Key role of mandatory reporting requirements.
Methods: Life cycle assessment (LCA), cost benefit analysis. Analyses should consider full supply chain impacts.
Key stakeholder voices: agri-retailers, sellers. Shipping / transportation industry, boat manufacturers, trucking companies. Insurance companies. Utilities. NGOs. Biological product companies. Industry, startups, producers. Venture capital.
Session 4 | The "N-Solutions" Explorer - Development Activity
As the final installment of the Nitrogen Summer Institute, this session featured a multi-sector panel spanning research, industry and governance exploring what makes meaningful nitrogen management solutions. The panel discussion was followed by an interactive exercise evaluating technology, policy, and management interventions across the agri-food-energy nexus.
Featured speakers:
Tom Bruulsema (Chief Scientist, 4RPN Consulting)
Suprem Das (Associate Professor, Kansas State University)
Shabtai Bitmann (Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
Eric Davidson (Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland Center for Environmental
Science; Principal Scientist, Spark Climate Solutions)
Rachel Opitz (Program Manager, Taylor Geospatial)
Moderator:
Adrian Collins (NICCEE UK-Lead; Science Director, Rothamsted Research)
BREAKOUT SUMMARY
Use the accompanying figure to support your discussion and target intervention points for nitrogen management (technology, policy, management and beyond—including but not limited to green ammonia). Outline the intervention, key stakeholders, relevant efficacy metrics to support the intervention, environmental / system effects and related barriers.
Click image to enlarge.
Reach out for more information about this breakout group! Discussions will be used to shape an online resource of possible nitrogen interventions.
NICCEE Leadership:
Claudia Wagner-Riddle, NICCEE Canada-Lead & 2026 Summer Event Series Host; Professor, University of Guelph
Xin Zhang, NICCEE Director; Professor, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
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
Jordan Minigan, Research Program Coordinator, University of Guelph