We Measure The World

METER Group, Inc. USA

5.0 (7)
NATURAL SCIENCES
UPDATED MONTHLY

We Measure The World

Meet scientists who are changing the world—by measuring it.

JAN 13

Episode 42: Lauren Tucker

We Measure The World

46 min
JAN 7

Episode 41: Getting irrigation right in a drought-stricken world

As the climate continues to change, water distribution across the planet shifts in unpredictable ways. Historical data can no longer be relied on as traditional moisture-rich areas are experiencing longer, more frequent droughts and arid landscapes now have flooding to manage. In this episode, Dr. Matt Yost, agroclimate extension specialist at Utah State University, discusses his research in commercial agriculture and how producers can benefit from the certainty of high-accuracy soil moisture and weather instruments to achieve precision irrigation in these uncertain times.

1 hr
JAN 7

Episode 40: Emulating natural prairies to balance soil health

The cover crop and crop rotation options used by agriculturalists across the country don’t work among the dryland farming practices of the plains of Wyoming. Wheat farmers — many of whom operate without well rights — are lucky to get a profitable crop every 2-3 years as their fields lie fallow for the interim to allow the soil recover. In this episode, we talk to G.A. Harris Fellowship recipient Alex Fox, who joined a study that took lessons from natural prairie systems and studied the impacts of planting Kernza®, the first ever domesticated perennial grain crop.

51 min
JAN 7

Episode 39: Improving blueberry breeding with soil moisture monitoring

Growing blueberries is a challenge. Multiple stalks require manual harvest. A thirsty root structure requires large amounts of water. The pine bark mulch spread across the soil conserves irrigation water and added nutrients but comprises a quarter of the growing cost. 2022 G.A. Harris Fellowship recipient and University of Florida horticultural sciences PhD student, Cecilia Heller, has dedicated her studies to tackling this problem. In this episode, Cecilia discusses the challenges and successes she has found with grafting blueberries for climate resilience.

35 min
JAN 7

Episode 38: Growing essential oils the sustainable way

The world of essential oils isn’t inherently sustainable and rarely ethically sourced. The workers and the land itself are often treated with little respect in the name of short-term profitability. Katie Anselmi, master's student at Colorado Mesa University, got the opportunity to visit Fairoil farms in Kenya and work with the farmers that are trying to change that as they produce the oils used by doTERRA, a popular essential oil company. The farmers were battling inconsistent yield and had reached out to Katie’s advisor, Dr. Neil Hansen for help. In this episode, Katie discusses what they discovered on their trip to Kenya.

41 min
JAN 7

Episode 37: Detecting natural gas seepage from pipelines

Stephen is a professor in the department of geology at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez. He obtained his bachelors in geology and earth science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his PhD in geology from North Carolina State University. He teaches classes in structural geology, geomorphology, and field geology, and his research projects have focused mostly on tropical landslides and landscape evolution, with the funding of such organizations as the NSF, USGS, USDA-NRCS, and NOAA.

1h 3m
JAN 7

Episode 36: The 70,000-landslide storm

In 2017, Hurricane Maria ravaged the island of Puerto Rico, with category 5 winds topping out at 174 mph (282 km/h). In this mountainous nation with the 9th highest road density in the world, thousands of landslides wreaked havoc on the large number of rural communities that became cut off from supplies and travel. Dr. Stephen Hughes, a professor in the Department of Geology at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, has turned this catastrophe into a lesson by harnessing before and after data to develop a landslide susceptibility map with resolution down to every 5 m. Join us as we discuss with him the process of developing landslide prediction across the entire island nation.

45 min
JAN 7

Episode 35: The human burden on urban soils

Ecosystem services—the physical processes performed by soils within an ecosystem—are well-known in agricultural settings, but how do we define and measure them in urban settings? Join Dr. Sara Acevedo, assistant professor at La Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile, as she explores what it takes to measure the metals and other contaminants left in soil by human activity, the effect of soil homogeneity in an urban landscape, and to extend these studies out into areas of human development that have been ravaged by wildfires.

56 min

5

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7 Ratings

Meet scientists who are changing the world—by measuring it.

Creator

METER Group, Inc. USA
Years Active

2021 - 2025
Episodes

42
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2021
Show Website

We Measure The World