Dr. Sarah Lyons joined the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) as a scientific project manager in May 2023 to provide leadership and expertise for FFAR’s Efficient Fertilizer Consortium. Dr. Lyons’ role with FFAR supports her interests in interdisciplinary agricultural research and the important connections between soil science, crop science, agronomy and animal science.
Prior to joining FFAR, Dr. Lyons served as a research scholar at North Carolina State University with the Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) initiative, a national, highly collaborative project aimed at increasing soil testing transparency by promoting clear and consistent interpretations of fertilizer recommendations and providing the best possible science to enhance end-user adoption. To achieve the program’s objective, she led the development of a national database, collecting and curating both current and legacy soil test correlation and calibration data from across the U.S. Dr. Lyons has also conducted interdisciplinary research in dairy and beef production systems. She studied soil fertility, agronomy and animal nutrition on dairy farms in New York to determine best management practices for more productive and sustainable forage crop rotations and investigated the effects of fescue toxicity on beef heifer growth and reproductive health in North Carolina pasture systems.
Dr. Lyons received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Furman University, her master’s degree in animal science from North Carolina State University and her doctorate in animal science from Cornell University.