Garrett C Liles
General Bio for Dr. Garrett C Liles
Office: 211 Plumas Hall
Email: gcliles@csuchico.edu
Phone: 530-898-4642
Department: College of Agriculture – Plant and Soil Sciences
Garrett Liles is a Chico, CA native and Professor of Soil Science at California State University Chico with earned degrees from Chico State (BS - interdisciplinary special major - Soil Ecology 2002), University of Washington (MS - Soil and Watershed Management 2005), and UC Davis (PhD - Soil Science - 2013) where he broadly explored soil and the Carbon cycle in forested and riparian ecosystems.
Dr Liles joined the CSU Chico College of Agriculture Plant and soil science faculty in 2015 and became a full professor in 2025. Since arriving at Chico State, he has been active in his role as an educator, through service to university and border community, and interdisciplinary research. These activities include leadership in the development of Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems (CRARS) and Regenerative Agriculture Demonstration Lab (RAD Lab). The RAD Lab was established in 2018 to directly support research and projects within CRARS and provides diverse opportunities for students (a list of > 30 so far and growing each semester) to gain experience in the field and laboratory.
In the classroom and field, his focus is demonstrating the central role soil has in all aspects of life and in support of civilization. This is achieved through a collaborative hands-on approach that stresses the ‘why’ to explore processes and mechanisms.
He generally teaches:
● PSSC 250 - Introduction to Soil Science
● PSSC 356 - Soil Health and Regenerative Management
● PSSC 451 - Soil Genesis and Classification
● PSSC 453 - Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition
● PSSC 466 - Climate Impacts and Agricultural Systems
His research program has been successful in securing funding for a variety of projects investigating soil health and regenerative management, digital archiving of soil resources, science communication, and supporting the growth of the RAD Lab with analytical and facility infrastructure. Since 2015 he has published 10 peer reviewed articles and book chapters and been involved in a variety of public outreach articles and videos.
Across all activities, his main goals are to engage students and the border community to know the importance of soil in their lives. Soil is the most important thing in the world that most folks don’t think about at all. Garrett wakes up every day trying to change this!