Focuses of the Kearney mission are as follows:

Understand mechanisms and processes governing the storage and flow of carbon pools in soils that support California's diverse ecosystems;

Quantify impacts of anthropogenic inputs of water, nutrients, and pollutants on transformations of carbon in soils;

Assess the roles soil carbon may play on emissions of green-house gases, and

Analyze strategies and policy options for soil carbon management that optimize natural resource utilization and mitigate adverse effects of global climate changes.