Science AMA Series: I’m Claire Horrocks, a Soil Scientist! Soil matters.
Fact! Poor land management can damage soils. I‘m working in Colombia and
Kenya to develop methods to assess and improve soil health under
tropical grasslands. AMA!
Abstract
Hi reddit! I became a scientist because I wanted to make a difference. I
had prepared myself for a life of numbers, statistics and working in a
lab. Never did I imagine that I would be travelling to places like
Colombia and Kenya, and getting to meet other researchers from around
the globe who are also pretty keen to make a difference. But this is
exactly what I am doing in my current role as a Newton Fund
(http://www.newtonfund.ac.uk/) Postdoc at Rothamsted Research
(http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/) . The human population is growing and
feeding everyone whilst limiting environmental damage is a huge
challenge we face. Key to tackling the problem is understanding and
managing soil. Soil is amazing and complex! It has many essential
functions, including regulating water flow and water quality; storing
carbon so less of it reaches the atmosphere as the greenhouse gas carbon
dioxide; and supporting above and below ground biodiversity, which
includes the plants we rely on for food. I am working in collaboration
with scientists at the Centre for Tropical Agriculture
(https://ciat.cgiar.org/) in Cali, Colombia and Nairobi, Kenya, to
understand how growing different combinations of plants effects soil
function in grazed grasslands. This will help us determine the best
plant varieties and farming practices to ensure farmers in the tropics
grow grass to rear healthy livestock, and produce sufficient nutritious
food with less damage to the environment. Read more about my work and
find out what life as a globe-trotting soil scientist is like in a
recent blog entry
(http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/day-life-research-scientist/day-life-dr-claire-horrocks).
My fingers are tired now from all the typing so I am going to head off
but I have really enjoyed answering all the questions and reading some
of the great discussions that have developed. Sorry I couldn’t respond
to all the comments I will try to pop back later to answer some more ,
bye for now. Claire