Field, Lab, Earth

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Past and present advances in the fields of agronomic, crop, soil, and environmental sciences. Enjoy interviews with researchers published in journals, books, and magazines from the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America. Opinions and conclusions expressed by authors are their own and are not considered as those of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, its staff, its members, or its advertisers.

Past and present advances in the fields of agronomic, crop, soil, and environmental sciences. Enjoy interviews with researchers published in journals, books, and magazines from the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America. Opinions and conclusions expressed by authors are their own and are not considered as those of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, its staff, its members, or its advertisers.

More Information

Location:

United States

Genres:

Science Podcasts

Description:

Twitter:

@fieldlabearth

Language:

English

Website:

http://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/

Email:

podcast@sciencesocieties.org

Episodes

Vadose Zone Gas Migration and Leaking Wells with Olenka Forde

5/16/2019

“Vadose Zone Gas Migration and Surface Effluxes after a Controlled Natural Gas Release into an Unconfined Shallow Aquifer” with Olenka Forde. Olenka Forde thinks a lot about a world that we’ll never see – the world existing right underneath our feet. Olenka’s research is related to hydraulic fracturing and she is interested in how we can safely extract oil and gas resources without negative impacts on fresh water supply, wildlife, and even humans. She does this by monitoring the fate and...

Duration:00:31:13

Turfgrass Colorants with Drew Pinnix

4/19/2019

“Color, Transfer, and Application Parameters of Turfgrass Colorants” with Garland (Drew) Pinnix. In kindergarten, we’re taught that colors can be one of seven colors of the rainbow. Later, we learn fun colors like purple mountain majesty and get excited when our friend brings a 50-pack of crayons. In reality though, color is much more complex, a mixture of hue, brightness, and saturation. Drew Pinnix thinks a lot about color, specifically in relation to turfgrass. Most of the time, the...

Duration:00:34:31

Hydrological Observatories with Dr. Heye Bogena

3/15/2019

“Toward Better Understanding of Terrestrial Processes through Long-Term Hydrological Observatories” with Dr. Heye Bogena. Hydrology, put plainly, is the study of water: how it moves, where it goes, and what’s inside it. Hydrologists gather as much information as they can about water in order to understand current water trends and to predict potential water patterns in the future. In a changing climate, this is more crucial than ever. Using data from multiple networks of hydrological...

Duration:00:37:25

Precision and Sustainable Agriculture with Dr. David Clay

2/15/2019

Precision Agriculture Basics with Dr. David Clay Dr. David Clay, along with the precision agriculture community, are working like codebreakers to crack the secret to more efficient, more environmentally friendly farming. The key? Understanding variability. Across any given farm field, there are many discrepancies in how given points of the field react to similar management practices. If farmers understand what causes those discrepancies, they can fine tune management in ways that can...

Duration:00:32:59

The OSU Hand Planter with Dr. Bill Raun

1/18/2019

“Hand Planter for the Developing World: Factor Testing and Refinement” with Dr. Bill Raun Across Central America, South America, and Africa, there are thousands of acres of land with slopes and landscapes that will never be suitable for mechanized agriculture. For hundreds of years, they have been planted by hand, a practice that continues today. The problem is, as technology in chemical seed treatments has advanced, technology in hand-planting techniques has not, resulting in thousands of...

Duration:00:25:33

Sediment and the Health of the Great Barrier Reef with Dr. Peter Hairsine

12/21/2018

“Review: Sediment-Related Controls on the Health of the Great Barrier Reef” with Dr. Peter Hairsine. In 2016, a catastrophic bleaching event killed off around 30% of the Great Barrier Reef’s coral. The reef has been in a precarious spot for decades, but climate change and human-caused pollution have amplified the threats to its existence. Dr. Peter Hairsine is a scientist with The Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National Univ., Canberra, Australia, working on the...

Duration:00:31:09

Stacking Soybean Cyst Nematode Resistance with Dr. Brian Diers

11/16/2018

“Pyramiding of Alleles from Multiple Sources Increases the Resistance of Soybean to Highly Virulent Soybean Cyst Nematode Isolates” with Dr. Brian Diers. One of a farmer’s greatest enemies is a nemesis that they never even see. A nematode sounds like a ghastly swamp monster – in reality, it’s a microscopic worm that does some big time damage to soybean fields. These little guys love living in the soil and sucking on soybean roots. A bad infestation of soybean cyst nematodes can cost a...

Duration:00:23:33

Wildland Fire, Mercury, and Perch with Dr. Randy Kolka and Trent Wickman

10/19/2018

“Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) Mercury Unaffected by Wildland Fires in Northern Minnesota” with Dr. Randy Kolka and Trent Wickman. We often hear of the dangers of mercury to pregnant women and children that require them to restrict fish consumption. For good reason – even at low concentrations, mercury can do serious damage to neural networks and reproductive systems. However, we talk little of how the mercury gets in these fish in the first place. The most common way mercury enters the...

Duration:00:30:14

Crop Wild Relatives Week with Dr. Stephanie Greene

9/21/2018

“An Inventory of Crop Wild Relatives of the United States” with Dr. Stephanie Greene. Crop Wild Relatives week is September 22 – 29, 2018! Crops are vital to feeding an expanding world – and like anything incredibly important, they need to be protected from things like disease, environmental disaster, and anything else that can pose a real threat. The key to their protection? Unexpected heroes that could be growing in your back yard– wild varieties of domesticated crops called crop wild...

Duration:00:27:35

Bonus - The Farm Bill with Dr. Julie McClure and Dr. Elizabeth Stulberg

9/6/2018

The Farm Bill with Dr. Julie McClure and Dr. Elizabeth Stulberg If you have ever eaten food in the United States, you’ve been impacted by The Farm Bill, a mega-bill that is due for renewal in Congress this September. Although it heavily affects farmers, the Farm Bill covers a huge swath of topics: wildlife conservation, rural affairs, agriculture research, food stamps, and a lot more. If it seems like a big and overwhelming deal, that is because it is. Luckily, we have Drs. Elizabeth...

Duration:00:43:41

Climate Change and Simulated Canola Yields with Dr. Budong Qian

8/17/2018

“Simulated Canola Yield Responses to Climate Change and Adaptation in Canada” with Dr. Budong Qian. Canada really cares about the future of canola. It has surpassed spring wheat as the dominant crop in Canada, covering 8.5 million ha of Canadian agricultural land. It is even named after Canada, as the word canola itself is a contraction of “Canada" and "oil”. However, climate change and increasing temperatures threaten Canada’s canola sector—which is why Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has...

Duration:00:24:57

Insect Pollinators and Confection Sunflowers with Dr. Rachel Mallinger

7/19/2018

“Benefits of Insect Pollination to Confection Sunflowers Differ Across Plant Genotypes” with Dr. Rachel Mallinger. Sunflowers are a hallmark of an American summer. They’re grown for beauty, but they are also important industrial crops in America, grown for sunflower oil, for fresh eating (of the seeds), and for bird seed. And although we’ve slowly bred them to be more independent of pollinators, sunflowers still partner with bees. And not just honey bees. More often, they partner with...

Duration:00:36:30

Artificial Sweeteners Underground with Dr. John Spoelstra

6/13/2018

“Artificial Sweeteners Reveal Septic System Effluent in Rural Groundwater” with Dr. John Spoelstra. Dr. John Spoelstra is something like a wastewater detective. If there is secret wastewater that is contaminating groundwater and putting health outcomes at risk, he wants to know. To trace the path of wastewater, he uses a special set of tools: tracer compounds. These are compounds that are not found in the natural environment, but have a lot of human use. Examples are caffeine,...

Duration:00:23:30

Iron Layers in Golf Course Soils with Glen Obear

6/13/2018

Rapid soil formation in engineered soils, as highlighted in the article “Soil Evolution Par for the Golf Course” with Glen Obear. Not all of us who go golfing think about what is happening underneath the green. Glen Obear has always been that kind of guy. Since his high school days, he has wanted to be a golf course superintendent – even though he doesn’t play that much golf! What fascinates him is the science of developing a golf course. We may simply see a beautiful, natural-looking...

Duration:00:28:10

Blue Carbon in Mangrove Forests with Dr. Gabriel Nuto Nóbrega

6/13/2018

“Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (Vis-Nir-Swir) as a Promising Tool for Blue Carbon Quantification in Mangrove Soils: A Case of Study in Tropical Semiarid Climatic Conditions” with Dr. Gabriel Nuto Nóbrega. Mangrove forests are some of the most important forests in the world. Mangroves are uniquely adapted to acting as a middleman. They can deal with very high salinity and hide tides, but when the tide drops, they can deal with the low salinity. They act as nurseries for young birds, fish,...

Duration:00:24:38

Antibiotic Resistance in Nebraskan Soils with Dr. Lisa Durso

6/13/2018

“Assessment of Selected Antibiotic Resistances in Ungrazed Native Nebraska Prairie Soils” with Dr. Lisa Durso. Antibiotic resistance has revealed itself as one of the great public health threats of our lifetimes. It currently causes 23,000 deaths per year and $55 billion of health costs in the U.S. Those numbers are predicted to skyrocket in coming years without major change. However, there’s a caveat that makes researching it harder. Antibiotic resistance occurs naturally in soil, even...

Duration:00:18:09

Cover Crop Cocktails with Dr. Ebony Murrell and Dr. Mac Burgess

6/13/2018

“Achieving Diverse Cover Crop Mixtures: Effects of Planting Date and Seeding Rate” with Dr. Ebony Murrell and Dr. Mac Burgess In fall, organic farmers across the country will start spreading seeds for crops that they won’t ever harvest. The reason? They’re cover crops! The secret agents of the crop game, these are crops that are planted in between plantings of cash crops like corn or wheat because of their many benefits to the land, the environment, and the farmer. Historically, they’ve...

Duration:00:30:24