Projects

One dirt milkshake please, hold the milk We analyze soil texture by measuring the density of a soil slurry over 24 hours- larger particles (sand and silt) will slowly settle to the bottom of the cylinder, while small particles (clay) will stay suspended.

Soil color can tell us a lot about what going on down there (black for organic matter, red & yellow for iron, white for calcium carbonate…) We dug pits for a research project looking at high-elevation hay meadows and thought about how deep-rooted perennial grasses (like Kernza 🌾!

Took a trip to The Land Institute to visit some friends, share some research, and (more importantly) drink some Kernza beer at @blueskyebreweryandeats

Got to use this crazy contraption last week! Most of the soil breaks apart and falls through the sieves when it’s dunked in water, but stronger soil aggregates hold together and stay on top, which lets us measure “Soil Aggregate Stability.

So many soil enzymes to test! Part of this project is figuring out what soil properties can best indicate how soil health changes when we convert annual cropping systems to perennials.

Taking Kernza biomass samples- shoulda brought a lawnmower

Nitrate analysis, Step 1: Shake soil samples with some salty water to extract nutrients that are bound to soil particles. Step 2: In the tiny wells of this plate, add that salty water + chemicals that turn purple when they react with nitrate.

Pipetting party! We’re measuring the activities of 11 different enzymes in our soil samples. Microorganisms in the soil produce enzymes for decomposition and to transform nutrients into forms they (and plants!

Setting up the first of the meteorological towers! This one will measure an entire suite of environmental drivers to help us compute carbon and water cycling

Kernza taste-test (We started some indoor Kernza! Not for research, just for ambiance)