Soils have no panda bears

I drove my group out to adjacent soybean and restored-prairie fields on the conservancy and showed them the differences in soil structure and talked about the microbial ecology within each system, and why it was important. My guests, who seemed a little unsure about the topic at first (some had come because another session was canceled), became surprisingly engaged after I cored each soil and started pointing out the differences, and what they might mean. I talked about how the decreased biodiversity in the corn-soybean cropping systems contribute to widespread issues in Iowa such as soil erosion and nitrate leaching. On the ride back from the fields I was bombarded by questions about soil microbes and I’ve never felt so smug. Later, one of the participants even told me the soils session had been one of their favorites and that they appreciated being able to look at the prairie soil in such detail. These opportunities don’t come along very often, but maybe they should!

So, I suppose getting people’s hands in the soil is a good way to get them to start thinking about soils in a way that words alone can’t. I also learned a lot from the people I was teaching so it was a win-win. It was a great experience and I urge other soil scientists to do more outreach. Find a group like the Whiterock Conservancy that values soils and get out there and share your enthusiasm. I still don’t know how to make my research sound interesting to a new acquaintance at a party though…

So, do you have any good one-line openers for soils? What have you done in the past to get people jazzed about your research? I’d love to hear about it and try it in my own outreach efforts.

Take a look at the great conservation projects that the Whiterock Conservancy is working on: http://whiterockconservancy.org/index.html/

The views expressed here belong to the speaker and do not necessarily represent FAO’s views, positions, strategies or opinions.

Submitted by Cassi Wattenburger