Rate My Professor Markus Kleber

Markus Kleber served as Professor of Soil Science in the Department of Crop and Soil Science at Oregon State University until his retirement on December 31, 2025. He joined OSU in 2006 as Assistant Professor, advanced to Associate Professor in 2012, and to full Professor in 2017. Earlier in his career, Kleber was a Geological Scientist in the Earth Science Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from 2005 to 2006 and a Research Associate at the Institute for Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, from 1998 to 2004. His academic credentials comprise a Habilitation from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in 2004, a Dr. sc. agr. from the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany, in 1997, and a Diplom-Agrarbiologe from the University of Hohenheim in 1992.

Kleber's research centered on processes at the interface between organic matter and mineral surfaces, including mineral surface properties, organic matter properties, bonding mechanisms, adsorption processes, mineral-microbial interactions, and organic matter turnover dynamics in soil systems. He was a paradigm-shifter in soil science, notably through his rigorous critique of the traditional humification model of organic matter transformation, with contributions analyzed at landscape, field, and molecular scales. His influential publications include "Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property" (Nature, 2011), "The contentious nature of soil organic matter" (Nature, 2015), "Dynamic molecular structure of plant biomass-derived black carbon (biochar)" (Environmental Science & Technology, 2010), "Mineral–Organic Associations: Formation, Properties, and Relevance in Soil Environments" (Advances in Agronomy, 2015), and "A conceptual model of organo-mineral interactions in soils" (Biogeochemistry, 2007). Kleber served as president of the Oregon Society of Soil Science, a lifetime member of the society, and entered Fellowship with the Soil Science Society of America upon retirement. In 2024, he co-authored the Soil Science Society of America Journal Outstanding Paper Award recipient. He mentored graduate students on projects addressing organic carbon accumulation, PFAS retention, soil health, and cover crops, and taught courses including SOIL 388 Soil Systems and Plant Growth, SOIL 525 Mineral-organic interactions, and soil analysis laboratories.