Background

Nawal works on research related to plant nutrition and sustainable agriculture. She received her Agricultural Engineering degree in 2019 from the National School of Agriculture of Meknes, Morocco. She is currently a PhD student at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Morocco, and a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis. Nawal is a member at The High Council of Moroccan American Scholars and Academics and Vice president of One Health Club at UM6P.

Project

Nawal works on the development of sustainable production of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Wild.) under arid conditions. She is specifically evaluating the mineral nutrition of this crop and studying its response to organic amendments. Nawal’s work at UC Davis is concentrated on optimizing quinoa fertilization for high nitrogen use efficiency and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions mitigation. In the context of climate change and due to the increase in GHG emissions, agricultural products having less environmental impact and high nutritional value are rapidly gaining global importance. Quinoa is a potential alternative crop that has high tolerance to drought, salinity, and other environmental stresses. Our research aims to assess the C footprint and GHG emissions from quinoa production, evaluate its sustainability, and mitigate its environmental impact.

Research interest

I am highly intrigued by the studies related to plant nutrition, soil fertility, crop management, and sustainable agriculture. I am passionate about working in cross-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams to find sustainable solutions for agriculture and climate change challenges experienced at different scales.