Dr. Cheema is a Professor in the School of Science and the Environment, member of Environment and Sustainability and the Boreal Ecosystem and Agricultural Sciences program (BEAS). The focus of his research program is to develop productive and sustainable cropping systems to enhance soil quality and health, yield and quality of produce under climate change scenario. In recent years, he has developed strong research collaborations with industry and investigated use of industrial waste by-products (anaerobic digestate, biochar, wood ash, wood sludge and rock dust) to develop growth media; microbial community structure, liming and mineral properties and their effects on crop growth, yield and phytochemical profile of horticultural and agronomic crops under controlled environment and field conditions. Current research focus is to develop management practices that mitigate greenhouse gases and nitrogen losses, enhance soil quality and health in different cropping systems. Impact of climate change on global food security, particularly rising atmospheric CO2 and its impact on crop growth, yield and produce quality. He has developed seed priming techniques to induce stress tolerance in plants under abiotic stresses (cold/chilling, drought and salinity). Impact of climate change on global food security, particularly rising atmospheric CO2 and its impact on crop growth, yield and produce quality. Dr. Cheema has supervised and co-supervised 40 Master, and 10 PhD theses. Prior to joining the Memorial University, Dr. Cheema was a Professor in the department of Agronomy, and Director Graduate Studies (2008 – 2011), at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Wahid M.A, M. Saleem, S. Irshad, S. Khan,
M. Cheema, M. F. Saleem and S. A. Tung. Foliar feeding of boron improves the productivity of cotton cultivars with enhanced boll retention percentage.
Journal of Plant Nutrition;
https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2020.1783300
Oludoyin Adigun, M. Nadeem, T.H. Pham, V. Kavanagh, L.E. Jewell,
M. Cheema and R. Thomas.2020. Recent advances of bio-chemical, molecular and physiological aspects of membrane lipid derivatives in plant pathology.
Plant, Cell & Environment (accepted)
Ashiq W, M. Nadeem, W. Ali, M. Zaeem, J. Wu, L. Galagedara, R. Thomas, V. Kavanagh and
M. Cheema. 2020. Biochar amendment mitigates greenhouse gases emission and global warming potential in dairy manure based silage corn in boreal climate.
Environmental Pollution, 265, 114869;
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114869
Sey A, T.H. Pham, V. Kavanagh, S. Kaur,
M. Cheema, L. Galagedara, R. Thomas. Canola produced under boreal climatic conditions in Newfoundland and Labrador have a unique lipid composition and expeller press extraction retained the composition for commercial use.
Journal of Advanced Research, 24:423-434;
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2020.05.002
Illawathure C,
M. Cheema, V. Kavanagh, L. Galagedara. 2020. Distinguishing the capillary fringe reflection in a GPR profile for precise water table depth estimation in a boreal podzolic soil field.
Water, 12, 1670; doi:10.3390/w12061670
Nadeem M, R. Thomas, O. Adigun, C. Manful, J. Wu, T. H. Pham, X. Zhu, L. Galagedara, and
M. Cheema. 2020. Root membrane lipids as potential biomarkers to discriminate silage-corn genotypes cultivated on podzolic soils in boreal climate.
Physiologia Plantarum (accepted).
Sattar A, A. Sher, M. Ijaz, S. Ullah, M. S. Rizwan, M. Hussain, K. Jabran,
M. Cheema. 2020. Terminal drought and heat stress alter physiological and biochemical attributes in flag leaf of bread wheat.
PLOS ONE 15(5): e0232974; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232974
Samiullah, A. Sattar, A. Sher, M. Ijaz, M. Butt, M. Irfan, M.S. Rizwan, H. Ali and
M. Cheema. 2020. Interactive effect of biochar and silicon on improving morpho-physiological and biochemical attributes of maize by reducing drought hazards.
Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition; doi.org/10.1007/s42729-020-00253-7
Farooq M, I. Khan, A. Nawaz,
M. Cheema, K. H. M. Siddique. 2020. Using sorghum to suppress weeds in autumn planted maize.
Crop Protection, 133; doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2020.105162
Ali M.H, J.M. Sobze, T. H. Pham, M. Nadeem, C. Liu, L. Galagedara,
M. Cheema, R. Thomas. 2020. The use of nano-priming in boreal forest upland species: Potential applications in boreal forest reclamation following anthropogenic disturbance.
Nanomaterials, 10, 176; doi.org/10.3390/nano10010176
Ali W, M. Nadeem, W. Ashiq, M. Zaeem, S. S. M. Gilani, S. R. Khamseh, V. Kavanagh, R. Thomas,
M. Cheema. 2019. The effects of organic and inorganic phosphorus amendments on the biochemical attributes and active microbial population of agriculture podzols following silage corn cultivation in boreal climate.
Nature Scientific Reports, 9, 17297;doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-53906-8
Ali W, M. Nadeem, W. Ashiq, M. Zaeem, R. Thomas, V. Kavanagh and
M. Cheema. 2019. Forage yield and quality indices of silage-corn following organic and inorganic phosphorus amendments in podzol soil under boreal climate.
Agronomy, 9, 489; doi:10.3390/agronomy9090489
Zaeem M, M. Nadeem, T.H. Pham, W. Ashiq, W. Ali, S. S. M. Gilani, S. Elavarthi, V. Kavanagh,
M. Cheema, L. Galagedara, and R. Thomas. 2019. The potential of cereal-legume intercropping to improve the soil health status and biomass production in cool climate boreal ecosystems.
Nature Scientific Reports, 9:13148; doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49558-3
Wanniarachchi D,
M. Cheema, R. Thomas, and L. Galagedara. 2019. Effect of biochar on TDR based volumetric soil moisture measurements in a loamy sand Podzolic soil.
Soil Systems, 3, 49; doi:10.3390/soilsystems3030049
Vermooten M, M. Nadeem,
M. Cheema, R. Thomas, and L. Galagedara. 2019. Effects of biochar and dairy manure on physicochemical properties of podzol: Case from a silage-corn production trial in boreal climate.
Agriculture, 9, 183; doi:10.3390/agriculture9080183
Badewa E, A. Unc,
M. Cheema and L. Galagedara. 2019. Temporal stability of apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) in managed podzol.
Acta Geophysica, 64:1107-1118; doi.org/10.1007/s11600-019-00306-1
Nadeem M, H. Pham, A. Nieuwenhuis, W. Ali, M. Zaeem, W. Ashiq, S. M. Gillani, C. Manful, O. A. Adigun, L. Galagedara,
M. Cheema, R. Thomas. 2019. Adaptation strategies of forage soybeans cultivated on acidic soils under cool climate to produce high quality forage.
Plant Science, 283:278-289.
Nadeem, M, Pham, H., Ashley, N., Zaeem, M., Ashiq, W., Gillani, S.S.M., Manful, C., Adigun, O.A., Galagedara, L.,
M. Cheema, Thomas, R. 2019. Data article: Changes in soybean root membrane lipids and forage quality in response to field cultivation on agricultural podzols in boreal climates.
Data in Brief; doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2019.03.014
Ghaffari H, M. R. Tadayon, M. Nadeem,
M. Cheema, J. Razmjoo. 2019. Proline-mediated changes in antioxidant enzymatic activities and the physiology of sugar beet under drought stress.
Acta Physiologiae Plantarum 41:23; doi.org/10.1007/s11738-019-2815-z
Nadeem M, H. Pham, R. Thomas, L. Galagedara, V. Kavanagh, X. Zhu, Cheema, M. 2019. Potential role of root membrane phosphatidic acid in superior agronomic performance of silage-corn cultivated in cool climate cropping systems.
Physiologia Plantarum doi:10.1111/ppl.12902.
Sattar A,
M. Cheema, Sher, M. Ijaz, S.Ullah, A. Nawaz, T. Abbas, Q. Ali. 2019. Physiological and biochemical attributes of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings are influenced by foliar application of silicon and selenium under water deficit.
Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, 41:146; doi.org/10.1007/s11738-019-2938-2
Pham T. H, M. Zaeem, T. A. Fillier, M. Nadeem, N. P. Vidal, S. Cheema,
M. Cheema, R. Thomas. 2019. Targeting modified lipids during routine lipidomics analysis using HILIC and C30 reverse phase liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry.
Nature Scientific Reports, 9(1):5048; doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-41556-9
Vidal N, T. H. Pham, C. Manful, R. Pumphrey, M. Nadeem,
M. Cheema, L. Galagedara, A. L. Aladekoba, L. Abbey, and R. Thomas. 2018. The use of natural media amendments to produce kale enhanced with functional lipids in control environment production system.
Nature Scientific Reports, 8:14771; doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-32866-5