soilduck.

Getting to know you. Getting to know all about soil resources.

2012-01-17T22:21:00.001+11:00

At about 11pm last night, I looked at my phone in a sleepy haze to discover a long Tweet thread on soil. Considering the pillow or reading the thread, I quickly chose my love: soil. @dyerjonathan @heatherbray6 @wheatman01 @LClaessen @simmycattleau were all talking about resources as an introduction to soil biology. From this passionate discussion (which I was very sad to have missed!), I

Soil Hacks: Can Hackerspaces get down and dirty?

2012-01-10T18:59:00.000+11:00

Can we hack and make things from soil? Do we collaborate and discover with soil? And do all of these things fit in the philosophy of a Hackerspace? Not so soil science: Me at Make Hack Void with a tech-themed collage I created (thanks Mechatronics Guy for the photo) What is this 'hackerspace' of which you speak? Before we go any further... A hackerspace is not a place where a

Open Access Soil #2: Five Shiny Open Access Journals!

2012-01-05T17:41:00.002+11:00

Like to share your research? Get people to use it? Make it freely available to anyone? And still be peer-reviewed? You are in luck! There are five shiny-open-access-journals to do just that! Almost a year ago I wrote about Open Access Soil Science and the possibilities for more collaboration, cooperating and sharing in soil science. Now, we soilies are lucky to have five (!!) open access soil

Mud Puddings for Everyone! Have A Happy Muddy Christmas

2011-12-22T22:37:00.002+11:00

Mud pies. Mud puddings. Mud chocolates. Mud ice-creams. These are all things I made during my Christmas holidays. And now I play with mud for work. Nom nom. Mud pie! With an unusually wet and cool summer in Australia, it is a great opportunity to get kids outside and into the mud! Getting kids to play with dirt isn't just about getting covered with mud (and poor Mum/Dad having to clean

The Strawberry Snatcher

2011-12-18T17:53:00.002+11:00

Case: The Strawberry Snatcher The Problem: My box-garden is doing much better this year, after some good rain and a new position in the sun! However, I have had some of my foodstuffs stolen by a cheeky animal. Happy to share, but all my baby spinach?!?! I don't think so! What has gone missing: Strawberries, basil and baby spinach List of suspects: Possum Snails and Slugs Birds

Local Soil: Celebrating World Soil Day

2011-12-05T17:51:00.001+11:00

We are very lucky in Canberra. I am sure there are very few Capital Cities in the world where you can walk out your back door and straight into a natural environment! I thought a nice way to celebrate World Soil Day would be to share some photos and a bit of info on the soil and landscape of one of my favourite local walks. Mt Ainslie is 842m above sea level, and is a popular walk for

World Soil Day Celebrations in Canberra

2011-12-02T09:13:00.000+11:00

The best day of the year... if you are a soil lover! The Fenner School, ANU will be holding World Soil Day celebrations on Monday 5th December. There will be free morning tea, 'guess the pH' and bolus competitions. We will also be playing soil movies and displaying some latest research. There will even be some research by a Martian Soil Expert! The events run between 1030-1130am at the Frank

Soil Myths #5: Do we need to aerate soil?

2011-11-22T18:37:00.001+11:00

Have you ever wondered why you might see heaps of holes in the grass at your local park? You may even see the giant tractors rolling across ovals or through parks with heavy metal rollers with spikes all over them making holes all through the grass. This process of hole-making is to help the soil breathe; known as soil aeration. But does soil need this? And do you need to do this with your own

New Soil Videos!

2011-11-08T14:02:00.000+11:00

After my recent (brief) post on environmental videos, I have been alerted to the Soil Science Society of Americas 'The Story of Soil'. Very much looking forward to checking out these videos when I have a bit more time. They look pretty rad!

Interesting, Inspiring and Educational Environmental Videos

2011-10-28T16:01:00.000+11:00

Finding inspiring and educational films is so important in training young environmental scientists and managers. I am teaching Environmental Rehabilitation and Catchment Management this semester at the Canberra Institute of Technology. Quite often, we are unable to go out to sites to look at how things are actually being managed or implemented. This is when I rely on good videos to help teach my

New Forum, New Land: 2011 Land Restoration Forum

2011-09-19T21:53:00.000+10:00

What an awesome forum!! There was soil carbon, holistic farming practices, soil properties of shell middens and their significance, ISO 14001 environmental standards and biochar... all new awesome things in the story of land restoration. The NSW/ACT branch of Soil Science Australia held the first Land Restoration Forum at the Fenner School, ANU. The day was packed with many different topics

Waterfalls, lambs and tors: How I became a Scientist

2011-08-25T18:29:00.000+10:00

I was completely delighted with the number of questions I got from the Year 8 science students I chatted with today. They thought about things, asked questions, told me what they were passionate about, were keen to learn... All signs of scientists in the making :D Three scientists exploring Mt Budawang (photo courtesy of Helen and Vern) Being asked to come and talk about how I became a scientist

Soil Restoration Forum

2011-08-03T08:39:00.000+10:00

The Soil Science Society of Australia and The Fenner School at ANU are co-hosting a forum on Soil Restoration: "Restoration of soils for productive landscapes" 16th September 2011 Soil Forum 9:30am to 4:30pm Forestry Building (48), ANUHarald Jensen Lecture (with Dr John Williams) and dinner from 5:30pm University House, ANU For further information, see the Society website. Some paper

Fanciful Fungi #9: South Western Fungi

2011-07-10T18:14:00.001+10:00

South Western Australia is amazing! Giant trees. Great food and wine. Strange yabbie-like crustaceans. Parrots and rosellas that try to attack you (both in and outside of cars). Shallow ocean shelf. Quokkas <3. And other general awesomeness. Like any other amazing bush-holiday, it can't be complete without some amazing fungi! After staying in Pemberton, we decided to go to Gloucester National

Fanciful Fungi #8: Hide and Seek Fungi @ Square Rock

2011-07-10T13:09:00.000+10:00

A long time ago, April actually, five of us went on a fungi hunting adventure in Namadgi National Park. I have been meaning to sort and organise these fungi photos for awhile now, but been super busy with the PhD (getting close to the end), writing for other rad peeps (Thesis Whisperer, PhD2Published, The Conversation, ViewPoint) and the rest of the time I seem to be flopping around the house in

Just because you have a tea-cosy hat doesn't mean you have to stay there: Thinking about life post-PhD

2011-06-01T20:29:00.000+10:00