Sam Musarika reports on a recent STARS course. PhD projects are complicated and are sometimes not easy to communicate. What might seem to be an interesting project to the researcher and his fellows could be easily dismissed by those outside that sphere of interest. It is important therefore that a researcher presents their work in […]

Leigh-Anne Kemp, a 2nd year STARS PhD student, reports on an International Knowledge Exchange visit. I recently completed a month-long international interdisciplinary internship at Ohio State University. I was invited to work with Dr Bennett’s lab group focusing on the effects of selenium leaching from mining activities on microbial communities. My internship was twofold. First […]

Lucy Greenfield, a 3rd year STARS PhD student, reports on an International Knowledge Exchange visit. I recently travelled to the University of Göttingen for a month to learn the technique of enzyme photography or zymography from Dr Bahar Razavi. Enzymes are released into the soil by microorganisms to aid the breakdown of many soil compounds.  […]

I recently finished a three-month placement at Ramboll, a civil engineering consultancy, in Southampton. I was given the opportunity to work with the Environment team there as part of an industry placement funded by the National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF). During my placement I helped out with many different projects and got a great overview […]

Four STARS students, Jessica Potts, Chris McCloskey, Paul George and Emily Dowdeswell-Downey, were given the opportunity to present their research to HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO when he visited the BSSS Early Career Researcher conference in his capacity as the Society’s Patron. The biennial two-day event, led by BSSS National Representative Dan Evans, […]

A European Journal of Soil Science, STARS special issue, is being planed. Having formally launched the proposal at the STARS conference in January, editors Phil Haygarth, Guy Kirk and Davey Jones are currently compiling a list of provisional paper titles. Although time is short, it is not too late to submit suggestions. Volunteer papers comprised […]

How does soil science link to future global challenges? Read this conversation between Harry and Alex, members of the third and second STARS cohort respectively, as they reflect on the first STARS CDT conference held recently. At this key time for STARS, we are at maximum capacity.  Students and supervisors were present from all 4 cohorts at the […]

This exciting new post has been established to help coordinate our varied outputs, providing a lasting legacy of resources developed by the STARS CDT, to support soil scientists and the wider community into the future. This is an exciting time for STARS, we are at peak capacity, with all student cohorts active and lots going […]

In honour of Johnny Johnston’s 90th birthday, a conversation about soil science has been recorded between Johnny and Emily Masters-Clark at Rothamsted. Both Johnny and Emily work on soil fertility, listen to the conversation to see how the focus has changed over the years. https://www.facebook.com/Rothamsted/videos/295154434372927/

STARS student Heather Ruscoe has recently finished a 3-month placement at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Westminster. The position was based within the Private Office (PO) team who assist both the Chief Executive and Chair of the board. The purpose of the placement was to help with general tasks of PO but mainly to […]