Kemanian attempted briefly to become a soccer player and failed, which lead to a career in academe. His research program addresses topics from soil and plant processes, in particular nitrogen and carbon cycling and the determination in water use efficiency of plants, to field and landscape scale processes affected by agriculture. Kemanian supports two simulation models, CropSyst and Cycles, which are used in both academe and the private sector. In addition, Kemanian teaches the courses Environmental Biophysics, Principles of Crop Production, and Models in Agricultural and Natural Systems.