Architecture and Biology of Soils: Life in Inner Space

Author Biography

I am a soil ecologist, convinced that soil is the most remarkable, complex and fascinating material on the planet…. as well as absolutely fundamental to our past and future civilisations. I graduated in Agricultural Botany from the University of Reading in 1981, and completed a PhD in grassland ecology at the University of Bristol in 1984, then moving to Scotland to lead research programmes in Government Institutes in Aberdeen and Dundee. Since 2002, I have held a Personal Chair in Soil Biology at Cranfield University. My research interests focus on developing a mechanistic understanding of the origins and functional consequences of the compositional and spatial organisation of soil communities. This work underpins the development of frameworks for understanding factors that regulate the activity of life belowground, systems to manage the biota appropriately, and incisive procedures for assessing and monitoring soil health. I have a portfolio of over 100 research papers and several hundred other outputs. I am a Chief Editor of the high-ranking journal, Soil Biology Biochemistry and have held long-standing editorial roles with FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Mycological Research and the Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, as well as editing the books 'Beyond the Biomass', 'Criminal and Environmental Soil Forensics', and most recently 'Architecture and Biology of Soils'. Hence one of my key concepts is that of soil architecture, and my work on visualising soil systems across a wide range of spatial scales has revealed many new insights into how life belowground is spatially organised, the functional consequences of this for the earth system, and how we might then manage the crucial soil resource more effectively and sustainably. I work at the interface of the physics and biology in soil ecosystems, the most complex biomaterial on our planet. I graduated in Soil Science from Aberdeen University in 1984, and completed a degree in Soil Mechanics at Aberdeen University in 1987. I moved to the Scottish Crop Research Institute in 1984, staying for 12 years and finally heading up the Soil-Plant Dynamics Group at the Institute. I then moved to the University of Abertay, in Dundee, to develop the Scottish Informatics Mathematics Biology and Statistics (SIMBIOS) Centre of which I was a Director for 8 years. I also was a coordinator of Terrestrial Carbon research for the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Society and Environments (SAGES) which is an alliance of 9 Scottish Universities. In 2008, I moved to Australia to take up a position as Head of the School of Environmental & Rural Sciences in Armidale. I am really intrigued by the connection between life in soil and the physical architecture of soil. A fascinating subject that I believe will yield some new and exciting discoveries that not only will help us understand how to manage soil in a more unsustainable way but, because it really deals with the ecology of life, will probably tells us more about how we should live on Earth. I have over 100 research papers and been fortunate enough to have worked with some great scientists who share my passion for soil, and who have significantly helped me in my career. Karl is a stand-out as one of these colleagues.