In this episode we discuss the importance of reactive Nitrogen species in the atmosphere in the context of food security, air pollution, and climate change.

• The major sources, drivers, and impacts of atmospheric Reactive Nitrogen in South Asia
  
• The concepts of Nitrogen footprint, Nitrogen neutrality, and Nitrogen efficiency
  
• The benefits of sustainable Nitrogen management and synergies with climate change mitigation
  

Our guest Dr Tariq Aziz is an Associate Professor at Sub-Campus Depalpur, Okara University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. His major research interests are exploitation of genetic variability of agronomic crops against abiotic stresses, particularly nutrient deficiency stress. In addition, he is currently working on synthesis and testing of enhanced efficiency fertilizers. He got his PhD in Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad in 2006. Later on, he did his Post Doc from School of Plant Biology at University of Western Australia. He is a Project Lead partner from Pakistan of an International Project “South Asia Nitrogen Hub”. Find him on twitter.

Our interviewer Dr Saumya Singh is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, USA and works on understanding the sources and processes that drive rural and urban air pollution in India. She is particularly interested in understanding the links between agriculture and air pollution. She holds a PhD in Environmental Sciences from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi where she studied atmospheric abundance and transformation of gaseous reactive nitrogen (Ammonia and Nitrogen dioxide) across North India. She is a former postdoc of University of Toronto, Canada where she studied the atmospheric -surface exchange of reactive Nitrogen mainly ammonia in agricultural fields to understand the sources and sinks of ammonia after fertilizer applications. She is currently trying to improve the air pollution measurement infrastructure in rural-urban regions in South Asia, using low cost sensors. Find her on Twitter.

Episode notes and references:

• Reactive Nitrogen: Too Much of a Good Thing?
  
• Rethinking nitrogen use: need to plan beyond present
  
• The International Nitrogen Initiative
  
• The UKRI GCRF South Asian Nitrogen
  

Music by: Ritesh Prasanna

Podcast website: https://atmospherictales.com